Businesses in Athens are often opening new doors and closing old ones.
10 West Clothing Company, 10 W. Union St., recently combined with Uptown Dog T-Shirts, 9 W. Union St., a business that has been open for 30 years in Athens. Mary Cheadle, the owner of both businesses, said Uptown Dog T-Shirts was one of few businesses to make it 30 years in Athens.
“We’ve seen a ton of people come and go,” Cheadle said. “Obviously, places like Cornwell’s are older than us, and there’s a few that are older.”
Cornwell Jewelers initially opened in Athens in 1832, Mark Bryan, floor manager of Cornwell Jewelers, 77 N. Court St., said. It then closed for 10 to 15 years because of a gold rush in Ohio and had a reopening in 1869.
Housing HotLink, 8 N. Court St., is a company that owns many commercial properties in Athens. Manager Sandy James said turnover on property is common, but she often sees more businesses arriving than leaving.
“Our biggest turnover is things like the political offices, which are only there every four years,” James said.
Both Thunder Bunny Tattoo, 26 W. Stimson Ave., and Whit’s Frozen Custard, 49 S. Court St., have been in Athens for more than five years. GoodFella’s Pizza, 6 W. Union St., has been in Athens for more than 23 years.
James said turnover often depends on the type of business. She said newer businesses do not last because customers often shop at larger stores or online.
“One of the things that people are always saying is ‘shop local,’” James said. “If more people shop at these new upstarts, then they will survive and continue. … If a business can last two years, it gets it past that bubble of all of the expenses it took to get started. If it can hit seven years, they’re going to last long term.”
With a large trend in online retail shopping, Cheadle said the challenge is to •attract customers to shop in store more than online.
“That’s why I’ve always felt like if you’re going to be a retail store in Uptown Athens, then you do have to be semi-unique in order to create an experience that they want, not just buying a garment,” Cheadle said.
The Other Place, 43 S. Court St., has been open for about 20 years. Manager April Knox said she has also seen in the past year slower business because of online shopping.
“Our biggest competition is online shopping,” Knox said. “We have definitely upped our social media as much as possible.”
Jessica Kopelwitz started Fluff Bakery, 8 N. Court St. in 2010. She said that while she has been competing with other coffee and bakery shops in Athens, she has continuously tried to make Fluff Bakery stand out.
“We’re such a different business than all of the other bakeries and coffee shops,” Kopelwitz said. “We focus on really unique comfort food and drinks.”
Kopelwitz said being in Athens is surprising to her because people often assume that being on Court Street guarantees business, but in reality it does not.
“No. 1 is the economy and the economy affects business in general, especially retail,” Kopelwitz said. “You have to understand when you’re going to have the big times and when you’re going to have lean times and be able to plan for that and do not go out of business.”
The key components to surviving in Athens are listening to customers, growing with Athens, choosing the right employees and being consistent, Kopelwitz said.
“It’s an interesting challenge, and I don’t think people understand until you’re in the middle of it,” Kopelwitz said. “Even if it’s the major critique, or you fail at something, you have to listen and take something from that and do better. Whether you always agree with it or not, you have to do it, and I think that has helped us survive.”
