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The State of Downtown Retail


GvilleSC

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I met with CFA years ago when working on a potential Church St. location with them that never happened and they said if they ever worked out something for Augusta Rd. or Church St. that they would be back on main street shortly after.  Glad to see it happening.

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I'm glad to see Chick-fil-A downtown, but a real one is what we need.  The "express" versions, with food under heat lamps, aren't my preference. If downtown could attract a Chick-fil-A 25 or so years ago, when it was so much smaller and lower-traffic than it is now, why can't CFA proceed with a real location?

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  • 3 weeks later...
On December 28, 2015 at 7:00 PM, Galley said:

Earshot will be closing on Jan. 31st. Everything is currently 40% off. They were never the same when they moved to the smaller store.  Their selection was terrible, and they have had trouble stocking new releases. 

Earshot has reopened.  The store looks nice from the photos.

 

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Here's what downtown needs, perhaps on the County Square site or closer to Main, in an area currently with parking lots and divey buildings:

http://www.firstandmainhudson.com/

It looks like a brand-new downtown, built to look old, as an extension its city's existing downtown, and with store spaces that would fit additional national retailers.  Just like Riverplace expanded downtown's core, so could this. 

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I kind of like it. But not in or near downtown. That's the look of some true town centerish development. More fitting for the Verdae development. Matter of fact, that would be perfect for Verdae.  Thanks for sharing.  

Edited by MAJIKMAN
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12 hours ago, gman430 said:

Some call this supply and demand. The expense of downtown will help other areas grow to meet the price needs of certain industries like retail and restaurant. Per the story this helps the West Village, or whatever we call it now, and downtown Greer. Without rising costs there is no incentive to build and expand, both of which help clean up blighted areas and increase the tax base. I personally view this as good news.

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12 hours ago, gman430 said:

Yeah, I'd call it a good story, except they failed to talk to any of the restaurants that are seeing a huge increase in customers downtown and all of the successes they are having. Rent is only a small percentage of a restaurants cost. Has anyone done a story on all of the new jobs being created and the growth of the service/tourism industry in Greenville?  

The not-so-hidden agenda in this article is laughable. No wonder readership is down at the G'Ville News. I'm just glad there are people out there like ursa carolina that can read between the lines and see the positives downtown's growth is having on other areas.

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1 hour ago, gvegas12 said:

Yeah, I'd call it a good story, except they failed to talk to any of the restaurants that are seeing a huge increase in customers downtown and all of the successes they are having. Rent is only a small percentage of a restaurants cost. Has anyone done a story on all of the new jobs being created and the growth of the service/tourism industry in Greenville?  

The not-so-hidden agenda in this article is laughable. No wonder readership is down at the G'Ville News. I'm just glad there are people out there like ursa carolina that can read between the lines and see the positives downtown's growth is having on other areas.

I'm confused....are empty buildings/storefronts positive? I don't know...this translates to lost jobs to me. For sure downtown restaurants are doing very well....what about entrepreneurs willing to attempt a retail business  downtown? They can go to other outlying areas where it's less expensive....this still leaves empty buildings downtown that are eyesores. 

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1 hour ago, cabelagent said:

I'm confused....are empty buildings/storefronts positive? I don't know...this translates to lost jobs to me. For sure downtown restaurants are doing very well....what about entrepreneurs willing to attempt a retail business  downtown? They can go to other outlying areas where it's less expensive....this still leaves empty buildings downtown that are eyesores. 

If rental prices are rising, it's because demand for space justifies it. If someone's willing to pay the higher rent, then I say come on in. If landlords miscalculate and can't fill space vacated by tenants who don't want to pay the higher rent, then rates will come back down, and space will be occupied.

It's only under rent control that landlords have been content--actually have been left with no other choice but--to let their properties stay vacant.

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Price gouging?

We finally have a downtown that attracts a lot of people, which in turn attracts stores and restaurants that do a lot of business and locate in prime areas and are willing to pay to do so.  (E.g., Brooks Brothers and Anthropologie; how many other downtowns in Greenville-sized cities have those types of stores in them?)  Thank goodness, in my view.

If people want a lower-priced downtown, then let's return to, say, 1989.  Rents were low then.  They were low because the few stores that were downtown were, by and large, ratty, and there was very little if anything to draw paying customers downtown then.

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Seems like that much demand on Main Street should help to encourage more development onto some of the side streets.  While prices on Main are understandably at a premium, I would think some of the currently underdeveloped areas just a block or two away would be able to offer more affordable rents for smaller startup and local businesses.  I would hate to see too many of the independent shops and restaurants replaced by national chains. 

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25 minutes ago, sc smitty said:

Seems like that much demand on Main Street should help to encourage more development onto some of the side streets.  While prices on Main are understandably at a premium, I would think some of the currently underdeveloped areas just a block or two away would be able to offer more affordable rents for smaller startup and local businesses. 

Agreed.  I'd think that (1) national chain retailers would want to locate in new buildings that fit their space needs better than 1920s or so buildings would and (2) people would want to look at building new buildings with retail in them, given the strong demand for retail downtown, rather than just apartment buildings. 

I wouldn't want to drive anyone out of business, but I'd like to have more national chains downtown, since those stores usually attract higher volumes of business.  Even King Street in Charleston, with lots of high-end national chains, still has plenty of locally-owned stores on it, so there's always room for both, although I'd expect national chains to snag the better locations.

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The block where Addy's, Ink & Ivy are (all the way around the block, particularly the street parallel to Main and then back on North Street to Main) could be redeveloped to add a lot more retail and other space, and it could be charming.  The street parallel to Main (Brown St.?) is small enough and has a few buildings along it that could be fixed up, and if more new construction was added to fill in the parking lots and ratty buildings in that block, it could be really quaint and extend downtown's high-traffic areas.  Who's up for taking that lead on redeveloping that block?

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On June 12, 2016 at 8:53 PM, mallguy said:

Here's what downtown needs, perhaps on the County Square site or closer to Main, in an area currently with parking lots and divey buildings:

http://www.firstandmainhudson.com/

It looks like a brand-new downtown, built to look old, as an extension its city's existing downtown, and with store spaces that would fit additional national retailers.  Just like Riverplace expanded downtown's core, so could this. 

Not bad but I would like to see something like City Creek Center in Salt Lake City instead.

Edited by gman430
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Moe Joe's has a sign for a crepe shop "coming soon".  Maybe this idea will take off better than the last attempt. Still seems kind of niche, best of luck to them.

Is there a new Shave and Haircut place going in on a side street? I have heard about one but cant find it.

I would love to see the West Village get more mom and pop stores and don't mind if it means seeing a Gap or Urban Outfitters, Victoria's Secret etc on Main.  Those national and bland stores dont add any local flavor but they do add lots of people which will shop all over main once they are here and parked.  This depends on how well priced/greedy the landlords are going to be on those side streets once they see big tenants and what they are willing to pay come in on main.  It should balance out in theory, if they charge too much, their property will remain vacant and fall into disrepair and cost them money instead of making them money until they lower their rents.  Once they lower the rent or if you are lucky enough to get in while its low, the tenants need to be smart and only sign leases that guarantee moderate rent increases over time.

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1 hour ago, gvegascple said:

 

Is there a new Shave and Haircut place going in on a side street? I have heard about one but cant find it.

Found the haircut place, its on a side street (North St) by Rush Wilson and the corner where Drake's flowers used to be.  Liberty Fine Cuts and Shaves.  More side street development!  

 

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