CHARLESTON, SC NEWS - LIVE 5 WCSC Breaking News, Weather, SportsStorefronts in downtown Charleston shopping district filling up
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CHARLESTON, SC - Business in the Holy City's shopping districts aren't quite booming, but shop owners say they are seeing signs of business starting to return.
Tim Keane is the Director of Planning for the City of Charleston. He says the city's most famous street is turning things around.
"There is no question that things are better now than six months ago, nine months ago," said Tim Keane. "King Street is a great place to look and see that. I think of it as the South's Main Street."
Lauren Lail is one of the street's temporary business owners. In December, she opened her shop, Novel, for the holiday season. Business was good enough that she's back for the month of March and hopes downtown events continue to bring in customers.
"We are looking forward to Charleston Fashion Week. There is a lot going on in March which helps the traffic on King," said Lail.
King Street isn't the only downtown Charleston area that has seen a rise new business owners. Last June, a majority of spaces on Market Street were available for rent. Now, nine months later, most of them are occupied.
"With the businesses in the Market area, what we are seeing right now, the minute a space is available a tenant fills it up," said Keane.
In addition to Henry's restaurant, Leo Chiagkouris also owns space on Market Street. Nine months ago the bad economy limited his options for his extra property.
"I couldn't rent it out, couldn't borrow money from the banks, so this is what we had to do," said Chiagkouris. He and a few investors transformed condominiums that couldn't be rented out into a dance lounge called NV. He says the location is the main reason why he's confident this new business will succeed.
"On the Market, everything evolves around here. We live in the best city in South Carolina," said Chiagkouris.
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