May 10, 2006
Clothier slips away from downtown
But latte fans will be welcoming new Starbucks location
By Rudolph Bell
One business has backed out of a West End location, but two others have locked in.
American Apparel has decided not to open a Greenville store for the time being because the trendy clothier needs to slow its expansion rate, a location scout for the company said Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Starbucks Corp. is planning to open its first coffee shop downtown in the RiverPlace development next month.
The Planned opening date for the 1,500-square-foot store is June 24, Alan Richardson, Starbucks’ Southeast regional marketing manager, confirmed.
Bob Hughes of Greenville, developer of RiverPlace along with his brother Phil Hughes, said the coming Starbucks outlet “is a recognition for downtown Greenville that we are a really cool downtown.”
American Apparel specializes in T-shirts and sweatshirts for young women. Inc. magazine recently called it “one of the hottest brands in fashion.”
“In the past two years, (American Apparel) has expanded very quickly and added new retail locations at unprecedented speed,” said Miguel McKelvey, a New York architect and location scout for the Los Angeles-based garment maker and retailer. “We’ve decided to slow down slightly in order to focus on organization and management of open stores. While we’re still actively developing new locations, Greenville is a second- or third-tier city, so it’s not currently a priority. Based on our knowledge of the market, we feel like we can wait a few months and still find a good location should we chose to pursue it in the future.”
In March, McKelvey said American Apparel’s first store in Greenville was likely to open this summer in a refurbished, 4,500-square-foot building in the West End near West End Field, the Greenville Drive minor league baseball stadium.
Now the owner of the building at 802 S. Main St., Charlotte developer Bryan Barwick, has put it back on the market.
But nearby, the new Greenville office of the Trone advertising agency has become the first tenant of a newly renovated cotton warehouse at 511 Rhett St.
The seven-employee Trone office is scheduled to open in 3,700 square feet at The Old Cotton Warehouse building in mid-June, said Rich Pocock, president.
He and two other former vice presidents of Henderson Advertising established the office after Henderson suddenly closed its doors April 3.
Trone’s headquarters are in High Point, N.C., and it also has offices in Charlotte and Raleigh.
Pocock said he and his partners like the 105-year-old cotton warehouse – recently renovated by the Weekes family of Greenville – because it has an historic feel, has been nicely outfitted and is close to West End Field.