Grocery shoppers don?t pick up some milk and ground beef, then decide to stroll, catch a play, or sit down at a restaurant.
Which is why Playhouse on the Square is so happy redevelopment of a large chunk of Overton Square now will be based on arts and entertainment instead of a grocery.
?An upscale grocery in the square? It quite frankly is not going to enhance an entertainment district,? said Jackie Nichols, executive producer of Playhouse on the Square and its neighboring, sister theater, Circuit Playhouse.
A spot check of businesses in and around Overton Square shows others in the district are either thrilled about the change in redevelopment plans or at least happy long-vacant buildings will have new life of any sort breathed into them.
Most people going to a grocery are on a schedule and wanting to get in and get out, said Taylor Berger, who with his partners in March opened a YoLo frozen yogurt shop across Cooper from the planned development.
?We thrive where people are relaxing and eating, not where they are on a schedule,? Berger said.
The Overton Square YoLo is ?far and
away our best performing store,? said Berger, whose company has 10 shops.
?Even imagining it could be better (in an arts and entertainment district) is great.?
?? From what I?ve seen, the reason why it?s so popular is just the pent-up demand for entertainment,? Berger said. ?YoLo for a lot of people has become that, a gathering place.
?? I think entertainment and food is exactly what Midtown and Memphis want.?
Loeb Properties in May persuaded the City Council to fund most of a $6 million parking structure/floodwater detention facility in Overton Square.
In return, Loeb would revitalize the five acres on the southwest corner of Madison and Cooper with new retail anchored by a grocery store.
But last month Robert Loeb confirmed the grocery store is no longer in the plans, replaced by an arts and entertainment theme and boutique retail.
He plans to unveil details and artist renderings at a public meeting at 6 p.m. Oct. 12 at Playhouse on the Square.
The Square is almost a theater district already, with three live theaters ? Playhouse, Circuit and TheatreWorks ? and a movie theater, Malco?s Studio on the Square.
From what he knows of Loeb?s new plans, Nichols said more live, performing arts could be bound for Overton Square.
?I don?t know what they are. I know there?s been a number of different organizations that have been approached in the city,? Nichols said.
The synergy of an entertainment district could help all its businesses, indicated Jimmy Tashie, executive vice president of Malco, which built Studio on the Square 10 years ago.
?You don?t want to be an island unto yourself,? Tashie said. ?When you walk out the front door, you want to see some activity.?
Tashie doesn?t have a strong opinion about a grocery versus arts and entertainment district, in part because the movie theater is ?product driven.? If someone wants to see a ?Harry Potter? movie, they?ll come see it whether there?s a grocery or arts gallery across the street.
But Malco built in the Square a decade ago because ?by and large, it?s an area that we felt strongly it needed some entertainment.?
?We?re patiently waiting for something good to happen? with the Square, he said. ?Whether it?s a grocery or just shops, as long as it?s done in a neighborhood-friendly manner.?
Malco is pleased with the amount of business it does in the Square.
?You always wish you could do more business, but we?re not going anywhere,? Tashie said. ?We?ll be there for a long, long time, and hopefully we?ll see a renaissance in that area.?
The restaurant/bar Boscos Squared sits directly across Madison from the empty southside buildings. John Kinzel, one of Boscos owners, said, ?Anything that is going to bring more people into the area is a good thing for all the businesses.?
While it didn?t matter to Kinzel whether Loeb put a grocery or arts and entertainment across the street, he said an arts and entertainment theme would be a good fit with Boscos.
One of just two businesses that have remained open in the cluster of buildings to be redeveloped is Golden India restaurant.
The empty neighboring spaces have created a strain that Golden India has been able to endure.
?It?s hard,? owner Satina Singh said. ?I don?t like that empty,? he added while pointing east to adjacent, vacant space.
He also doesn?t care much what form the redevelopment takes, just as long as it draws people.
?Whatever business is good,? he said. ?Empty not good.?
? Tom Bailey Jr.: (901) 529-2388
Article source: http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2011/sep/07/new-direction/?partner=yahoo_feeds
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