STACEY WIEDOWER - Special to The Daily News -

The South Main Historic Arts District could be viewed as a microcosm of all of Downtown. In decades past, it experienced a heyday and a dramatic decline. In recent years, it’s made a slow but thorough comeback.

And despite the economic slowdown that’s led some businesses to close their doors, the district continues to grow and change, attracting entrepreneurs who are focused on its potential.

The thing that ties these businesses together is the same thing that attracted them to South Main in the first place: They’re different.

“South Main has been known in part as an arts district, and there’s still a significant number of art galleries in the area,” said Paul Morris, president of the Center City Commission. “But now, it’s transitioned somewhat to include a lot of specialty boutiques. And the theme that runs across these stores is that they include items you can’t get anywhere else in this region. If you’re looking for something unique, South Main’s got it.”

That was the idea for Marian Richardson when she opened her pair of South Main businesses, Runway and Strut.

“The area had a few boutiques that were either already open or just opening, and I wanted to be around other unique boutiques where every store had a completely different product to offer,” Richardson said.

Other business owners have felt the same draw. Two new retailers recently joined the mix: Sachë, an apparel boutique, and Charlotte Memphis, a fine jewelry store. And soon, another new fashion boutique, K’PreSha, will open on the northern edge of the district, bridging the gap between the South Main core and Beale Street.
“I’m very excited about that store going into that location because one of the things a lot of our retailers say is we need to get people who are on Beale Street to turn the corner,” said Lisa Brumleve, manager of business recruitment and retention for the CCC.

K’PreSha was granted a $35,000 retail forgivable loan by the CCC to build out its space, as well as a $4,750 façade grant to be used for highly visible exterior lighting and signage. That’s significant, Brumleve said, because the store is going into a block without a lot of existing retail that hides the vibrancy of the street beyond it.

“We’re trying to get people in the Beale Street/Main Street area to look down there and see that visual and say, ‘Hey, what’s going on there?’” Morris said. “We’re

trying to bring life to that northern edge of South Main.”

And that’s particularly important, said Leslie Lawhon, owner of Delphinium, since the economy has caused foot traffic to slow significantly in recent months.

“Consumer confidence is through the floor because we didn’t rebound as quickly as people thought we would,” said Lawhon, who opened her accessories boutique in 2006. “The neighborhood being so tight-knit has helped businesses survive, in part because we try to patronize each other. If we’d been in another city in a random strip mall, I don’t think we’d have made it. Since we’re in such a unique area, that’s helped.”

That unique character also has drawn new eateries and clubs. Those places, such as Rumba Room, Pearl’s Oyster House and South of Beale (SOB), have generated buzz that’s helped drive people to the district.

“I definitely think we’ve helped make more people want to come to South Main,” said Brittany Whisenant, co-owner of the year-old gastropub SOB.

One way SOB has made that happen is by embracing social media.

“It’s had a huge impact,” Whisenant said. “It’s hard to judge how many people are coming in here because of a tweet or a Facebook status, but I truly credit a ton of our success to social media.”

She said she’s been encouraged since moving into the neighborhood by the amount of interest she’s seen in South Main by other prospective business owners.

“There’s been a lot of action by people looking at the other bays,” she said. “I still think this is an up-and-coming area. It’s got a lot of growing to do, but the progress that’s been made over the past couple of years has been great.”

Brumleve said continuing that momentum is a key focus for the CCC. Based on a 2008 study, the organization developed a retail strategy that includes incentives to attract new businesses.

“First, we wanted to attract unique and different retail,” Brumleve said. “We also wanted to cluster the retail. And most of our concentration has been on South Main because South Main already had a nice cluster of retail. Our plan told us we needed to maintain that diligence in South Main because of that synergy that was already there.”

Still, said Richardson, there is room for more.

“There are still a lot of people in Memphis who don’t have a clue about South Main or what it has to offer,” she said. “…The South Main Arts District has a lot of potential, but it starts with local Memphians supporting local businesses.”