‘Open and ready to roll.’ Crowds pack NC downtown after crippling construction ends
Crowds packed downtown Concord on Saturday as the city continued its celebration of the holidays with trolley rides, Santa and Mrs. Claus visits and Small Business Saturday specials.
Families frequenting restaurants and shops on main-drag Union Street and nearby roads were a welcome sight after two years of barricades and road-closed signs for a streetscape project. Businesses closed or moved as sales plummeted, CharlotteFive reported in August.
With most construction complete, shoppers are returning, buyers and business owners said Saturday.
“Downtown is alive again, and we’re loving it,” said Matt Peterson, manager of The Mullet thrift store.
“Downtown Concord people are starting to feel the energy again,” Lori Konawalik said. “They see the light at the end of the tunnel, that the streets were paved, and the sidewalks are so welcoming. There’s definitely a different energy now.”
“I knew the potential,” business owner says
Konawalik and her husband, Nick, opened the downtown Concord location of their Charlotte-based Mac Tabby Cat Cafe a year into COVID.
They endured construction of three condo towers beside and across from their 1863 building on Market Street, two years before the start of the nearby Union Street project.
Work on the condo towers came with street closures, water issues, outside debris and large cranes, Lori Konawalik said. “Literally anything that comes with being in the middle of construction,” she said.
“I’m a little bit stubborn,” Konawalik said as customers continued streaming into the cafe around 3 p.m. A band hired by the cafe played outside as customers relaxed at tables near a fire pit.
“I knew the potential of this town,” she said. “We knew it from the very beginning. We knew they’d do the remodel on Union Street. “
As a business owner, “you’ve got to keep walking past fear,” she said. “You have to step over it. You persevere.
“Do you love this enough that whatever happens — COVID, road closures — you just have to want it bad enough that you see it through to the other side,” Konawalik said.
“It was sad”
Some businesses, however, saw sales plummet so much they couldn’t survive. Others moved or temporarily closed.
Anchor restaurant Gianni’s Trattoria left downtown at the end of March. The Cigar Loft closed in June, and Tokyo-Hanoi Fusion temporarily closed in early August, CharlotteFive previously reported.
Cabo Winery, Table 11 restaurant and Union Street Nutrition also closed in August.
“It was sad a few months ago,” Amelia Sexton, an 18-year-old Concord native and freshman at UNC Chapel Hill, said as she relaxed with her sister, brother and dad at Press & Porter Coffeehouse on Union Street South on Saturday.
“I saw shops open and close within three months,” she said.
The scene is different now, she and sister, Claire, a 21-year-old senior at UNC Chapel Hill, said.
“It’s been transformed,” Claire Sexton said. “I haven’t been on this street in years. I’ve never seen it this busy, and with so many young people.”
“It’s really like ‘Gilmore Girls,’” Amelia Sexton said, referring to the 2000s comedy-drama TV series. “It feels warm and cozy.”
Union Street Cafe opened in October and was packed with diners Saturday. Luxury salon Luxe at the Loft had its grand opening Nov. 2 at 11 Cabarrus Ave.
And more businesses are on the way to Union Street, including Charlotte homemade ice cream maker Two Scoops Creamery early next year and Charros Mexican Restaurant soon.
“Business has been amazing”
Garrett Paslo, a bartender at Lil’ Robert’s Place craft beer bar on Union Street, has witnessed the transformation.
“Everything being shut down here really put a hurtin’ on business in general,” he said. “The past week, things have been opening up, they’re getting everything squared away, and it’s been amazing to see people out enjoying the social district, enjoying downtown Concord. The past couple of days, business has been amazing.”
Roger and Paula Werth drove the 15 or 20 minutes from their home in Harrisburg to walk the downtown Concord social district and sit in the sun Saturday with porters from Lil’ Robert’s Place, a longtime favorite haunt.
“This is the first time we’ve been back since they opened the street,” Paula Werth said. The crowds impressed her, she said.
“I’m looking forward to seeing what it’s going to be like once the weather gets warmer” and restaurants put tables outside, Paula Werth said. She predicts even bigger crowds.
Cathy Jones likewise sees success for downtown Concord.
“I think it’s going to rebound,” the real estate broker and developer said as she enjoyed a Moroccan mint tea with lavender at Press & Porter. “I’m optimistic. I’m in real estate.”
Further down Union Street, 2 Gals Kitchen, which seats about 65, was nearly full with diners at 2 p.m. Saturday. Its street block is still under construction.
“We just want people to know downtown Concord’s alive, we’re thriving, there’s lots of businesses still down here,” owner Mary Niemeier said as she worked the kitchen. “And it’s beautiful down here. We got nice places to walk, places to eat, drink, shop. So we want people to keep coming.”
“We’re definitely seeing a light at the end of the tunnel,” Niemeier said. “We’re on an upswing over here, and it’s going to be great for everybody downtown.”
Visitors see it’s now easy to get around, and parking decks and garages offer plenty of spaces, she said. “People are ready to serve them,” she said. “We want people to know we’re open and ready to roll.”
In August, as the streetscape project dragged on, Robert Burrage told CharlotteFive that he closed Lil’ Robert’s Place during much of the construction and only recently reopened on Fridays.
Burrage, whose family has lived in the area for seven generations, also owns The Mullet, which adjoins Lil’ Robert’s Place and also has a bar.
Lil’ Robert’s Place looks forward to its 15th anniversary in February, Peterson, manager of the thrift store at The Mullet, said Saturday.
“So long as we make it to spring, I don’t see what’ll stop us from another 15 years,” he said.
This story was originally published December 2, 2024 at 5:00 AM.