HomerJay

Anthropologie to open in March. They're hiring temp workers to help with the store opening.

Greektown Grill is the new venture by the former owners of Carolina Grill on Woodruff. Apparently their taxes at that location were much too high and they're expecting this downtown location to be more viable. Let's see if they'll be more successful than Kozani was with Greek food on Main Street.

It looks like there's a bit of the county in between the Furman campus and both TR and Greenville. I wonder if Furman owns that land too.

How does this contribute to the discussion? Why not - If people don't like interesting, local or regional busineses, don't shop at them? Let the rest of us shop where we want to.. I know my reactions to these issues can sometimes be more pointed than they should, but there are legitimate issues to discuss here. My position is that Tupelo Honey will help make downtown Greenville more memorable and economically viable than would a Cheesecake Factory (or something even more generic and common, like an Applebees or Chilis). You certainly don't have to agree, and I'd like to hear other perspectives on the subject, but why dismiss that position by just telling me to get out if I don't like it?

Yes. Some folks really want to turn downtown into a small scale version of Times Square, a place for dumb tourists to come, spend some money on flashy national chains, and leave. Tupelo will be good for tourism, but also good for locals.

Bagels AND Tupelo Honey coming downtown? Finally, someone has heard my plea for more breakfast options! Let's hope Tupelo doesn't suffer from the same absurd waiting times you see in downtown Asheville and now in Knoxville.

Brooks Brothers would also complement the female-oriented Anthropologie by catering (mostly) to men.

Palmetto Shades on Main is closed. That location isn't working so well for retail for some reason.

From later in the article: "A major bookseller the city has courted likely won’t come so White has turned to another. Likely it will be a bookstore in addition to something else — books and wine, books and coffee. Agnew doesn’t see a bookstore downtown. The book business is iffy on its own and there have been several iterations of bookstores on Main Street, including selling new and used merchandise."

From the Greenville News - "Helen Sanders, a project manager for Hughes Development, which is building One, said so far no more leases have been signed for the retail space not occupied by Anthropologie, but interest has been high. It’s uncertain how many spaces will be available for retail, but probably six or seven, she said." B&N is clearly not a done deal yet.

A couple of others come to mind, sort of. There's the place connected to The Westin, only open during the day I think. The coffee bar at Grille 33 was out of commission last time I walked by, but they could conceivably get things going again. I wouldn't be surprised if the Hyatt includes at least some kind of coffee kiosk to serve hotel guests. As a former Oregon resident, I'm pleased.

My questioning the need for Starbucks was more related to the number of coffee shops presently (and coming soon) on Main than my preference for other brands. That said, I had coffee tonight at the place that used to be Liquid Highway. I forgot the name already. While enjoying their outside seating area, it occurred to me that having a coffee shop with outdoor seating in Piazza Bergamo would be a very good thing, especially if they're open later in the evening. So, even though I still have questions about how many coffee shops can be supported in that area (Moe Joe's is opening soon), I now think including one in the ONE development is probably a good thing. I still think Starbucks overroasts their coffee so as to achieve a consistent flavor across all their stores.

Who is to say what the public's input "should be"? Is there any harm in people trying to lobby the leasing agent of ONE to try and recuit certain types of businesses over others? Or taking other action to encourage inclusion of a certain type of business? Or talking about it on a discussion forum? Maybe it's a waste of their (our) time, but that's their (our) business. Once a business moves in, sure, people can exercise their rights as a consumer. But, consumers can also act proactively and not simply wait for "choice" to be foisted upon them. And again, nobody is talking about having the government require the developer to get Starbucks or not.

.. and citizens who live in this city have every right (responsibility?) to be part of the discussion. Property rights are all well and good, but we're trying to live in a society. Besides, we're just discussing what we'd like to see. Nobody is talking about forcing decisions about what brand of coffee is allowed to be sold downtown.

I'd like to see downtown Greenville be more like downtown Asheville. There are some chains (Urban Outfitters comes to mind), but they are vastly outnumbered by local/regional stores. ONE will have at least one national retailer, probably more. I say that's enough for the immediate vicinity. The street really isn't that big - too many more and the character of the area quickly changes. Next thing you know, it's bland city.