The patio outside the Mule Barn sits just steps from the Bibb County Courthouse, where owner Dale Fordham says trial-goers and downtown workers alike stop in for a cup of coffee and a place to sit. 

But look across the street, and empty storefronts still line Cotton Avenue — a street Fordham says used to be full of banks, doctor's offices and pharmacies before it slowly emptied out over the years.

"The people part of it is the best part of the whole thing, just the people that I get to meet," Fordham said.

Fordham and her business partners opened their first location in a Cochran food truck in 2023 before purchasing the former Z Beans building in downtown Macon in 2024. By the end of 2025, they'd rebranded it as the Mule Barn.

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