Springfield has recently welcomed several new shops and the return of a favorite outdoor activity. Keep reading to see who moved to town and what’s happening at Phelps Grove Park.

Secret Sandwich Shop, 208 W. McDaniel Street, Springfield

If you love sandwiches, there’s good news. Secret Sandwich in downtown Springfield is moving into its own location. The shop originally opened in 2020 inside Sweet Boys bar. You’d walk past the bartenders and pinball machines and head to the back to place your order at a small window. The tiny space was a great jumping off point for Secret Sandwich Shop, but now demand for its hot and juicy sandwiches has grown, and Secret Sandwich Shop is ready to move into its own brick-and-mortar location. The shop is hoping to make the move to McDaniel Street by late May, and the move will give owner Mac Musgrave and his team a much larger kitchen to work. Mac says he’s already been testing out new sandwiches and plans to expand the menu to include salads, more vegetarian options, and the occasional street fare. As always, you can count on a new Secrwich reveal each day, so follow along on social media to see what the new menu drop is.

Goldenrod, 619 S. Pickwick Avenue, Springfield


There is no shortage of antique stores in the Ozarks, but most shops are found in strip malls and retail settings. But Goldenrod, one of Springfield’s newest antique and vintage shops, is mapping out a different plan and is housed in the charming Rountree neighborhood. You can find Goldenrod in the old Zen Spa location, which shares a courtyard with Tea Bar and Bites. Owner Jen Jeppsen has been dreaming of opening Goldenrod for ten years, and on April 2, her dream became reality. “I carry vintage furniture, home decor and gifts,” she says. “My style is all over the place, and I like combining different styles and ages.” You can see all of her recent additions to the shop’s inventory on Instagram at @goldenrodonpickwick, but plan to find miniature brass figurines, candlesticks, small planters like baskets, plenty of milk glass, and shelves of all kinds. When she’s not at the store, Jen is busy sourcing new items. It’s her love of antiquing that inspired the shop, but her six kids that range in age from nine to twenty-three also love vintage and antique shopping and help her find new pieces for the shop. Goldenrod is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 AM to 4 PM, but Jen says she can also set up private shopping sessions.

Yoga in the Park, Phelps Grove Park, 950 E. Bennett Street, Springfield 


YITP is back! This popular outdoor, weekly yoga session has finally returned for 2021. Yogis once again set up their yoga mats starting April 4 as YITP returned to in-person, outdoor sessions. Each Sunday, YITP welcomes yogis of all skill levels to come enjoy a relaxing hour-long flow. Instructors rotate each week, and the class is free for attendees, but donations are encouraged. The style of yoga can change depending on the instructor, but most Sunday sessions feature vinyasa or restorative flows. Yoga starts at 6 PM behind the park’s tennis courts. Bring your own yoga mat and arrive early. These sessions tend to fill up quickly, but the good news is that once space fills up on the concrete pad, you can still unroll your yoga mat on the grass. No reservation required. 

Echelon Coffee, 2407 N. Glenstone Ave., Springfield


Springfield’s north side just welcomed a new drive-through, hand-crafted coffee shop. Echelon Coffee opened March 30 and has been busy brewing all the regular cups of joe you’d expect to find at an upscale, welcoming, and modern coffee shop. Echelon also has a seasonal menu that will change throughout the year, but for spring, owners Megan and Joe West have created a refreshing selection. There’s the iced strawberry mocha (you can order this hot as well), the black salt mocha and the formation that comes with honey, cinnamon, and vanilla. And let’s not forget the homemade strawberry pop-tarts. “Pretty much everything we make is made in house,” Megan says. “From the chicken salad to the muffins.” Megan and Joe have a long history in the local coffee scene. They actually own No Coast Coffee roasting, which roasts coffee for local businesses, churches, and at-home subscriptions. Now, they’ll be roasting for their own coffee shop. As its name suggests, Echelon Coffee hints at Springfield’s cycling scene, which Joe has long been part of. “While it’s not a coffee bike shop, we wanted to sneak in some cycling slang,” Megan says. The shop’s logo is actually a bike spoke, and the term echelon is a cycling formation riders form when headed into a strong wind. “It’s all about the team mentality,” Megan says. “We’re in this together, so we wanted to bring that into our culture at the shop.” For an extra dose of cycling, Megan and Joe project snippets of cycling races onto a projector screen set up at the shop. If you’re not into cycling, that’s okay too. Megan says the store’s atmosphere is meant to be welcoming to all demographics and ages. It’s modern and bright and airy, and she hopes it offers something for everyone.