Downtown tries on trendy

By Marta Hummel Staff Writer
Greensboro News & Record

GREENSBORO -- Once the city's center of retailing, downtown during the past several decades lost nearly all of its clothiers to the suburbs and regional malls.

But downtown's revival, built largely upon bars and restaurants, is bringing in a new wave of retailers offering upscale fashion for bar hoppers and window shoppers.

Successful downtown merchants are being joined by at least three new clothing stores in coming days and a fourth possibly later this year.

The new stores are:

• Kristine's at 200 S. Elm St. The boutique, opened June 1, carries BCBG and JLo clothing for women and Lucky Chick spa products. Price Range: $12 for lip gloss to $75 for shirts and $145 for a blazer.

• Source 230 at 230A S. Elm St. The men's clothing and shoe store plans to open in late June and will carry Calvin Klein, Kenneth Cole and Ted Baker, said owner Dana Gladson. Price Range: $60 for a knit shirt to $150 for dress shirts and jackets and up to $700 for a suit, planned for the fall.

• Thai It Up at 354 S. Elm St. The store carries Thai spa products, silk and cotton clothing, handbags and jewelry. Thailand-born owner Pan Chatley also plans to open a Thai restaurant downtown in the fall. The grand opening is June 25, but the store is open for business as of Wednesday. Price range: $15 for body scrubs to $50 for cotton shirts to $400 for custom clothing pieces.

"I think people here are willing to learn (new cultures), and I am more than happy to be the one to explain things for them," said Chatley, who speaks five languages and has lived around the world.

The new stores add to a retail clothing base that, besides O'Kennedy's and Mack and Mack, includes contemporary ladies clothier LeVal's Boutique and Red Canary, which sells original designs for men and women.

One downtown resident said he was looking forward to browsing Source 230.

"Greensboro has a definite shortage of quality men's stores," said Brey Curtis, 31. He said he can find some things at the local malls, but most shops do not carry clothes "up to par" for going out to clubs like Much on Elm Street.

One woman, who was strolling Elm Street with her daughter Wednesday, said she would consider swapping a trip to the mall to come downtown.

"I think we need more stores carrying name-brand clothes," said Anissa McCray, 32, who usually goes to Dillards. She said she loves clothes and jewelry but has not had a reason to come downtown to shop in the past.

Downtown Greensboro once was lined with storefronts where shoppers could easily buy the latest styles.

Stalwart department stores such as Belk, Myers, Sears and Ellis-Stone occupied prominent positions.

But buyouts and move-outs for greener fields and wider parking lots left downtown with numerous underused buildings.

But the series of bars and other businesses that have filled in South Elm Street -- and a growing number of residential units that now tops 400 -- have lifted downtown's fortunes.

That is just what Kristine Neilson wants to hear. The 31-year-old owner of her eponymous boutique at 200 S. Elm St. stocks body scrubs, mini jean skirts with beads and bright drapey tops.

She says she has already received a warm welcome. Since she opened on June 1 sales have surpassed three months worth of business at her former High Point Road location, she said.

Finding her store was difficult for customers at her old address.

The increased visibility is helping bring in new customers for her pieces, she said.

She plans to add shoes in the coming year, which would add to the selection offered at newcomer Vanecci, which stocks men and women's trendy footwear.

Not everyone is benefiting from being downtown, however.

In January, long-time retailer Blumenthal's, known for its work clothes, sold its building for a variety of reasons, including declining sales.

The store will move to a shopping center on West Market Street.

And not everyone is optimistic that the stores will succeed.

"I hope that Greensboro will support them before they end up closing," said Greensboro resident Ivan Canada, 27, who was working in the downtown coffee shop the Green Bean on Wednesday afternoon.

Most people who like trendy clothes leave town to find them. Convenience may not be a sustaining lure, he said.

Ray Gibbs, president of Downtown Greensboro Inc. said the main force supporting retail downtown is the people who live nearby.

"Ten years ago this block used to be vacant," said Arnold Schiffman, the vice president of long-time South Elm Street business Schiffman's Jewelers, which sits close to the soon-to-open Hemingway's martini bar and upscale spa Chakra's.

"No one would take the buildings. Now look at it."