 (Ithaca, NY) The year 2009 will be remembered by the public as an economic rollercoaster, but in downtown Ithaca, it will be known as the Year of the Expanding Business.
Thirteen of the fifteen downtown businesses that opened or expanded in 2009 are locally or regionally owned. They include Wildfire Restaurant and Lounge, Simeon’s on the Commons, Palmer Pharmacy, Unique World, The Edge, The Shop, Finger Lakes Running and Triathlon Company, Gimme! Coffee, Sweet Melissa’s, Cinemapolis, Ithacards, Angry Mom Record and Birdie Smokin’ Gift Shop. The two national businesses include Urban Outfitters, and Cell Phone City.
The most recent expansions and openings include Simeon’s on the Commons, Wildfire Restaurant and Lounge, Palmer Pharmacy and Unique World.
Beyond the economic impact that a healthy, thriving business has on the local tax base, there is also an economic impact from building renovation and property purchases. Simeon’s on the Commons owners Rich Avery and Dean Zervos invested $200,000 in renovations when they chose to expand their 224 The Commons location, and that does not include the cost of acquiring the adjacent storefront they expanded into. Wildfire Restaurant and Lounge owners Teresa and Scott Miller purchased their building at 106 S. Cayuga Street, and then renovated it before opening Wildfire Restaurant and Lounge. The Millers also own Madeline’s Restaurant at 215 The Commons.
Palmer Pharmacy in Cayuga Place on Green Street is the third store for Trumansburg resident and pharmacist Darren Palmer. Along with filling a critical need in downtown Ithaca, Palmer Pharmacy will go a step further, at additional expense, and include an old-fashioned ice cream parlor in the store, which is expected to open in the next few weeks. Palmer Pharmacy’s other locations are in Trumansburg and Ovid.
Ithaca-based Gimme! Coffee also expanded into downtown this year, when it opened in the T-CAT Transit Center next to Palmer Pharmacy in Cayuga Place.
Unique World expanded twice in 2009. Unique World has now expanded into Center Ithaca at 171 The Commons. It first opened in the basement of 103 The Commons in 2003. Earlier this year, it expanded into a street-level storefront at that location, and in November, moved to Center Ithaca, and a space that is larger than the combined two other spaces it occupied at 103 The Commons.
When Ithacards opened at 144 The Commons, it became the third downtown Ithaca business for owners Emma Lou and Abdul Razak Sheik, who also own House of Shalimar and T-Shirt Express. In addition, it was the Sheiks who originally opened Evolution, which is also on the Commons. They later sold Evolution to one of their employees. That employee has since opened a second store, Avanti!, which is also located on the Commons. All five businesses remain open today.
Cinemapolis moved from downtown Ithaca’s Home Dairy Alley to a commercial space along the Green Street Garage walkway, expanding from two screens to five. The new movie house offers stadium seating and a comfortable lobby and concession area.
The Shop, at 312 E. Seneca Street is a new downtown Ithaca business, serving great coffee, tea and snacks. It also features live music every night and monthly art shows.
The Finger Lakes Running and Triathlon Company almost doubled its size, when it moved from West State Street in downtown Ithaca, to 215 The Commons. This has added new lines to accommodate all phases of triathlons- swimming, biking, and running.
Angry Mom Records at 115 The Commons is a new business that opened this year. Angry Mom owner George Johann expanded less than 4 months later, by consigning the stock and inventory of both Small World Records and Tapes, and Volume Records, into his business.
Two out-of-town clothing chains expanded into downtown Ithaca in 2009. National retailer Urban Outfitters opened its first upstate NY store outside of Buffalo, on the ground floor of Cayuga Place. Urban Outfitters chose downtown Ithaca over the Pyramid Mall and Route 13. Ithaca also won out over Rochester, Saratoga, and New Hartford, when Syracuse-based The Edge, chose to open a second store in upstate New York. The Edge is located at 107 S. Cayuga Street and is a trendy, contemporary discount apparel boutique for both men and women.
SewGreen, a non-profit community program encouraging sustainability in fabric, fiber and fashion opened a reuse store in the DeWitt Mall, at 215 N. Cayuga Street.
Such growth in a period of economic recovery bodes well for the future of downtown, notes Downtown Ithaca Alliance Executive Director Gary Ferguson. Ferguson contends that “a real barometer of the retail viability of an area is to see if there are expanding businesses. When businesses expand they demonstrate to others that this is a place where commerce works.”
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