City: There's more to come

By Cindy Landrum  

JUNE 2, 2011 10:29 a.m. (0)

With the announcement that Anthropologie will be an anchor tenant in One, the $100 million mixed-used development on a key block of North Main Street, another of downtown Greenville’s needs can be checked off city officials’ want list.

In the past few years, apartments have been built in downtown.

A grocery store within walking distance of the downtown hotels and condominiums has been built. And a pharmacy, something guests at downtown hotels have requested for years, is now under construction on one of Main Street’s long vacant corners.

City officials are certain the arrival of Anthropologie, a women’s boutique that is typically found in larger markets and high-end shopping centers, to a little more than one-acre site at Main and Washington streets will bring additional national retailers and locally owned specialty stores to downtown.

“This was our last best chance for retail,” White said when the development was announced last week. “We can now raise our expectations.”

But there’s more on city leaders’ wish list.

White said a bookstore of some scale is needed in the central business district. A movie theater and, perhaps, a department store would be welcome additions as well, the mayor said.

But, White said, Greenville leaders want to avoid a repeat of King Street in Charleston where local specialty merchants were pushed out by national chains.

Councilwoman Susan Reynolds said she’d like to see a bookstore downtown as well as outdoor fresh markets like Harry’s in a Hurry in Atlanta.

She also said downtown needs a movie theater and more women’s lingerie and dress shops.

“You always want more,” she said. “We don’t want to just develop Main Street but little pockets downtown. We know we’ve got to branch out. Businesses can be just as successful in these pockets.”

Nancy Whitworth, Greenville’s economic development director, said it takes more than just checking needs off a list.

“You’re never complete,” she said. “You’re constantly working to get better. We want to continue to take what we have and make it better.”

Whitworth said Anthropologie’s locating in downtown would make other retailers take notice.

She said she doesn’t expect an influx of national stores to nudge local merchants out of the city’s central business district like they did on King Street in Charleston.

“The difference is that in the peninsula of Charleston, there are no Woodruff Roads or Haywood Malls,” she said. “Here, we have the Haywood Mall, the Shops at Greenridge and Magnolia Park. We want to make sure those stay strong, too.”

Having national retailers blending with locally owned stores will make each stronger, she said.

Whitworth said Greenville’s downtown could stand to have more apartments to increase downtown’s after-5 population.

She’d also like to see more corporate headquarters downtown.

Whitworth said as far as shopping goes, things that complement what’s already downtown would be good.

“You never have enough women’s apparel,” she said. “We want to add to the mix.”

Whitworth said it’s important for downtown to have office space, residential, retail and entertainment.

Entertainment venues are another need. She mentioned things like a movie theater or bowling alley.

“Downtown is good for hanging out,” she said. “Some of the other entertainment venues will come particularly as the population grows around the inner city.”

The key, Whitworth said, is balance.

“You need the whole mix working together,” she said. “Every once in a while, you’ll have one segment get out of whack and you have to work on it.”