Days can pass, and Angel Kilgore”s car doesn”t move from its downtown parking space.
Kilgore walks to work at Huck”s and the Princess on Fifth Street South in downtown Columbus. She eats in downtown restaurants and shops at downtown stores.
“I like it,” Kilgore said of downtown. She moved to Columbus from Houston, Miss., in March and picked downtown because of its “loft-style apartments” and close proximity to work.
With 12 businesses expanding or opening in downtown in the past three and coming two months, Kilgore will have more reason not to stray far from home.
And Walter Jones, a 30-year Columbus resident, will have more reason to visit.
“From the time I moved here to Columbus, (downtown) has improved a whole lot,” said Jones, who admitted he doesn”t frequent downtown.
More retail, on hard corners, would draw him more frequently, he said.
While he won”t get to pick the locations, Jones soon will get his wish for more retail outlets.
Grins and Giggles children”s store is moving in next door to A Southern Wedding on Fifth Street South, from its location in the Brickerton shopping center off Military Road.
“Downtown is growing,” said store owner Morgan Egger of Caledonia. She plans to be a part of the growth and also bring more business to her front door with support from Main Street events.
“One of the perks for a downtown business is all the promotions throughout the year,” said Amber Murphree Brislin, director of Main Street Columbus Inc.
Seasonal open houses, Market Street Festival and Wassail Fest are just a few of the Main Street events drawing people to downtown. Factor in thousands of dollars in advertising and ongoing beautification projects, and downtown makes for prime real estate.
Bella Derma Organic Skin Spa knows this firsthand. Owner Melissa Rushing moved the business about two weeks ago, from Lincoln Road near Walmart, to an Epicurean building at 118 Fifth Street North, across from the Trotter Convention Center.
The facility, formerly Frank Imes” apartment building, features a sauna, steam room and enclosed Moroccan-themed courtyard at the top of the building. In addition to being an ideal setting for facials, massage therapy and body wraps, Rushing and her mother, Angela, also live in the building and plan to rent out a one-bedroom apartment there.
“It”s nice to be able to just go downstairs and be at work,” Angela Rushing said.
Businesses expected soon in downtown include an organic grocery and deli in the works for the old Parker Furniture building, at the corner of Fifth and College streets; a children”s clothing store, Evan”s Castle, opening in October at 220 Fifth St. S.; and a Renasant Bank, at 905 Main St. in the building most recently occupied by Regions bank, before it moved to its current location on the opposite side of Main.
A fine antiques mall, Antiquities on Fifth, will open in early November, also in the old Parker Furniture building, which is split into three sections.
In the past few months, Doodlebug Consignment, a clothing store, opened in the old Joy”s Flowers shop at 404 Main St.; Mainstream Technologies opened in the newly renovated Alford Drugs at 423 Main St.; Station 7 Firehouse Bar and Grill opened at 509 Main St., taking over the old 509 Tapas; and Rose shoe store opened on Main Street, near City hall.
Downtown Columbus has 105 business fronts, only five of which are empty and without incoming or prospective occupants, according to Brislin.
“We”re running out of space downtown. It”s a very good problem to have,” she said.
Royce Hudspeth, a Realtor with Rhett Real Estate, said there have been four new business deals for downtown in the past month, and an additional one is imminent.
“I think the space downtown is beginning to dry up. During the summer, there”s usually space available,” he said, attributing the popularity of downtown to the focus on its revitalization.
“I really think that just the revitalization of downtown in the last few years, all of the improvements and paying particular attention to the historic look and feel of downtown — all of that has (contributed), and people want to be downtown,” Hudspeth said, noting some of the spaces, including the Alford Drugs store, were vacant for many years.
Brislin also said the safety of downtown is drawing businesses. “There”s not a lot of crime in our downtown,” she said. “Our community takes pride in our downtown. We want to keep it safe. We want to keep it beautiful.”
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