Mark your calendars for Savannah’s Fashion Night, which will be celebrated on Thursday, Sept. 4.
The annual soiree began as part of Fashion’s Night Out, but that international event went on hiatus (or maybe just ended permanently). Fortunately, a core group of motivated local residents have continued the tradition.
Broughton Street will be closed to vehicular traffic for the evening, with stages at both Drayton and Montgomery streets. Runway shows and bands will keep things lively on those stages, and many Broughton Street stores will stay open deep into the night.
I’m not going to try to list everything that’s going on and all the dedicated folks who are making fashion night happen again. You can find more information at http://www.savannahsfashionnight.com and the related Facebook page.
Scheduled for the first Thursday in September, the annual gathering has become the unofficial kickoff to downtown’s fall shopping season.
I write pretty often about new stores and about fashion, but I’m not a shopper. Still, it’s wonderful wandering an automobile-free Broughton Street and enjoying the evening along with several thousand others. If you like live music, this year’s event will be worth attending just for sets by Dent May, GEMS and Matrimony.
The big guys vs. mom and pop
So, if you haven’t been to Broughton Street in awhile, what will you find on Savannah’s Fashion Night?
We’ve seen some major chains embrace Broughton Street in the 21st century, and there are more on the way.
J.Crew is scheduled to open at 201 W. Broughton St. on Sept. 10., according to the company website. Work also seems to be moving along briskly on the new Ann Taylor LOFT at 15 W. Broughton St.
Developer Ben Carter has
kept Broughton Street in the news throughout 2014 with his attempts to attract other major retailers, and we’ve seen a few independent stores depart.
But, as business owners noted in a July article in this newspaper, there will be more development throughout the downtown area as rents increase on Broughton Street.
The custom handbag and accessories boutique Satchel can now be found at 4 E. Liberty St. Atwell’s Art & Frame moved to 2310 Drayton St. and Colorboxx Salon to 319 West Congress St.
But Savannah’s Fashion Night attendees are going to find there are still a large number of locally owned stores on Broughton.
I’m especially impressed by the critical mass of independent retailers who occupy important corners. Some are big and some are small, but the highly visible spots bring a real local flavor to the strip.
Examples include 24e Design Co., Levy Jewelers, The Paris Market, The Coffee Fox, Nourish Natural Bath Products, Mason, Inc. and ZIA Boutique.
Despite the obvious success of some locally owned businesses that are competing with retail chains, we want to make sure room remains on Broughton for other small retailers. And that means maintaining the street’s narrow storefronts.
Kate Spade and Free People are chains that occupy smaller spaces, but it seems likely most of the similar spots will remain in local hands for the foreseeable future.
So there is a good economic argument for preservation of the obviously historic building at 240 W. Broughton St. now slated for demolition. I don’t see any problem with H&M moving to a large new building on the corridor, but that store could incorporate the smaller existing building.
And then when H&M leaves — nothing is permanent in the world of retail — that narrower storefront could be split away again.
Last year, most of Broughton Street’s chains did not participate in Savannah’s Fashion Night, which seemed like a loss for everyone. Maybe more national retailers will eventually see the value of participating in local events such as fashion night.
And room to grow
I don’t know how much bigger Savannah’s Fashion Night can get, but there are ways to enhance Broughton Street itself.
It’s practically a crime that the parking garage at the courthouse is so ugly and doesn’t have retail spaces at street level on the south side of the block between Montgomery Street and Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard.
The removal of the bus stop in front of Panera Bread has left a perfect spot for street trees and a more attractive sidewalk.
As I’ve noted before, some of the streetscape enhancements end abruptly and unnecessarily at Lincoln Street.
Before the recession, it looked as if we were headed toward full occupancy along Broughton Street. That goal now looks achievable again.
City Talk appears every Tuesday and Sunday. Bill Dawers can be reached via billdawers@comcast.net. Send mail to 10 East 32nd St., Savannah, Ga. 31401.