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FeedIt's been almost three years to the day since we published a cover story about Commercial Street's then-fledgling resurgence. The city's plan to turn the street into something of an entertainment district has certainly hit some snags, most of them centered around intrusive-but-necessary streetscape work and a fair amount of factionism on the street.
Lindberg's opened, sputtered, and closed. Big Momma's has opened and remained viable, and a few eclectic vintage shops have opened. Meanwhile a few other establishments—Paradise Bar & Grill, Cotton's—have gone the way of the dodo.
Which is why we're pretty impressed by the recent spate of openings. Call it C-Street 2.0, if you will, but this mini-resurgence seems to be more organic than force-fed, which most economists will tell you is a good sign. Among the big recent deals:
• Pizza House opened late last fall after moving from its longtime South Glenstone location. Crowds have been good, the pizza better.
• Red Velvet Art, a storefront for local scrapbooking and visual art/photography maven Elsie Flannigan, is set for its grand opening on First Friday Art Walk, February 6. If you've seen Elsie's stuff (you can read our Q&A with the woman herself here) you know it's going to be adorable.
• That same night, Lindberg's reopens under new ownership, the public face of which is Eric Weiler, a longtime Outland presence who knows the local music scene and is as well connected as anyone. It bodes well for consistent booking and (we hope) consistent crowds looking for live music on C-Street.
Add to that a new flavor of chocolate bar made with Filipino chocolate from Shawn Askinosie (there's a release party tonight!), and you've got a pretty sweet time on C-Street—and in this economy, that's something to be happy about.
Matt Lemmon, editor
Posted on Friday, January 30, 2009 | Permalink
