I read an article that states Steve F. Smith (Royale) is going to open a bar at Cherokee @ Iowa. He recently purchased a building down there according to the local publication.



With this bar being smack dab in the middle of the perceived Latino community in St. Louis City, do you think the bar will have a Latin American theme or be an extension of the hip Royale. Time will tell..but it will be a great boost to the area. Steve, any comments?



With that "Foam" place set to "open this fall" along with the current ethnic stores and Smith's bar, I predict a major shift in this thriving area.



Are we seeing the beginnings of gentrification in the predominately Latin American business area? (APOP Records, Mangia, Black Bear Bakery, have recently moved in along with the art studios on the western most area of the district. A Globes drug store closed and Proper shoe is set to close soon.)



Cherokee is evolving before our very eyes and it is exciting. My hope is that it retains its international flare.



~update http://www.saucemagazine.com/scoop.php

I assume this part of Cherokee is not in the ward that won't approve any more liquor licenses.

I assume, at the Iowa & Cherokee intersection it will be on the southeast side of Cherokee as it is not in Craig Schmidt's ward.



It will be nice to have a bar down there...







http://cherokeestation.com/index.php



update~ Someone w/much knowledge pointed me to Steve's website. Apparently I don't subscribe to many forums, just this cool one. If I did, I would have known about Steve's new project: http://stlstreets.com/2007/09/news.htm#comments

Actually Steve purchased the building on the southwest corner of Cherokee and Iowa. So it is in the 20th ward.

Is this going to be the opportunity for somebody to take Schmid to court and force his hand? I have heard some murmurings about this possibility, on this board I think.

rustedhinge wrote:I read an article that states Steve F. Smith (Royale) is going to open a bar at Cherokee @ Iowa. He recently purchased a building down there according to the local publication.



With this bar being smack dab in the middle of the perceived Latino community in St. Louis City, do you think the bar will have a Latin American theme or be an extension of the hip Royale. Time will tell..but it will be a great boost to the area. Steve, any comments?



With that "Foam" place set to "open this fall" along with the current ethnic stores and Smith's bar, I predict a major shift in this thriving area.



~update http://www.saucemagazine.com/scoop.php

As far as Foam is concerned I was being a little overly optimistic with a Fall 2007 opening. At this point I'll be pleased with an early Spring 2008 opening. Maybe with a soft opening in winter.



As far as the rest of Cherokee Station goes I would say that it is inevitable that it makes a comeback. The infrastructure is there. The area is very pleasing architecturally. The street is very walkable (all the way from Lemp to Gravois). The neighborhood and business district are starting to work together to raise the quality of life for both.

Are we seeing the beginnings of gentrification in the predominately Latin American business area? (APOP Records, Mangia, Black Bear Bakery, have recently moved in along with the art studios on the western most area of the district. A Globes drug store closed and Proper shoe is set to close soon.)



Cherokee is evolving before our very eyes and it is exciting. My hope is that it retains its international flare.

I wouldn't call the area a predominately Latin American business area. I do think that there are a few businesses that are high profile and I think that some will make it through an improvement period on the street, but the street is much more diverse than that. I also wouldn't used the highly loaded term "gentrification". I personally don't think it applies to more than a handful of areas of the Country. There's talk of having an international farmer's market in the district. I think that would go a long way towards keeping the international flair.



The difficult time I am having is with retail. There doesn't seem to be any single source for approaching future retail tenants. I think along with restaurants there should be some contemporary shopping. With the reasonable prices/rents on Cherokee there could be some experimental stuff (fashion and furniture designers with their own boutiques!). It's much less risky than opening downtown with all that overhead. I just wish there was a city department (Chamber of Commerce) that was interested in pairing up retailers and landlords.



Cherokee has the potential of being the independent shopping district in St. Louis. The Loop has a lot of chains, the CWE has gone upscale dining. I think the only real threat to Cherokee could be Maplewood. I was in Brooklyn 2 weeks ago and saw streets in Carroll Gardens (Smith St.) and Williamsburg (Bedford) that are templates for what Cherokee could become. I don't think it will take as long as some long term residents are predicting. I think in 2-3 years vs 10-12 years you'll see big changes.

In speaking about the Liquor Ordinance that is still in place.



It isn't always the alderman who put in place ordinances. Ordinances are also driven by residents in the area.



At a recent neighborhood meeting (and it is my understanding that this same perspective is shared by a majority of residents in all neighborhoods in the 20th ward), it was noted that residents are insisting that the current 50/50 rule remain in place. As a matter of fact a large number of these same people want the ratio changed to require more food, less alcohol.



These residents have had a hard fight to get rid of the bad places...and refuse to allow anything in that may take a year fight to get rid of.



Leadership of many neighborhoods have expressed interest with Alderman Schmid to talk about the Commercial districts in the Ward and devise some sort of "over lay".



It will be a hard road for the Leadership to sell the plan to residents, but the community leaders realize that to grow Cherokee Street (in particular) there needs to be progressive thinking in how to craft and accomodate the "space" for businesses to grow, yet protect the residents in the residential area 20 feet away.



This includes restrictions on closing time, food availability, following all rules as far as building issues and personnel, etc.



As far as the "climate" on Cherokee Street. There is only two blocks that are predominately Hispanic. There are 2-3 blocks that include the galleries and the more "arts" area. The remainder are predominately traditional "American" businesses with a few hispanic businesses scattered throughout.



Cherokee Street is known as the Historic Shopping District of South Saint Louis. This shopping district was HOT in the 1920-1970's. Only when malls became popular did businesses move out. Most of the business that were on Cherokee Street in the 70's moved to the malls. New buildings, more decentralized with the thought of having more shoppers, etc. is what moved people out. It was actually cheaper to pay the higher rents in the NEW buildings that it was to renovate and keep up the old buildings.



Cherokee Street in a sense, was an out door type of mall. Today a shopper enters one door...then walks through the mall hitting several to many shops..then they leave by the same door with bags and packages from various stores. When Cherokee was HOT, shoppers would start at one end of the street, shop an entire afternoon down to the end of the shopping district, then back to the starting point...with bags and packages from various stores to get on the trolley or bus.



The only difference is that if it rained, the Cherokee Street shoppers stayed inside the various shops or ran from one shop to the next....mall shoppers won't even know it rained until they were finished and headed to their cars.



What will GROW Cherokee Street is not just one business or restaurant/bar...what will grow Cherokee Street is an IDENTITY! Use and leverage what the shopping district is known for. Use what has worked for MANY revitalized historic shopping districts.

what mall did globe drug move too? it's hard to find a good velvet elvis wall hanging or the original pink flamingo these days.

^There is a Globe Drug on South Broadway in Soulard. I have yet to go inside but looking in from the outside while jogging by it looks like they may have all your needs from 1973

I buy my work hats there. $1 each. I kan't spel so who cares if they have misprints.

more restaurants, bars, retail on cherokee would influence my desire to live nearby. i go to the/a mexican grocer and get my mexican cokes and pepsis there. theres a decent amount of foot traffic, and is a wonderful built environment, one of my favorite streets in st. louis...it's well positioned....it's a mini logan square. sort of.



the built environment there is the perfect compact st. louis neighborhood and business district. i don't see it a long time before it becomes more well known.

STLgasm wrote:During high school, my friends and I used to drive to Cherokee Street on Friday afternoons to visit all the head shops (T-Shirt Headquarters, Spectrum's, Ngomsom's, etc). We called it the Bong District. A true city experience in every sense. Ngomsom's was our favorite, because they had a great selection of oversized rubber fists, 20-inch strap-on dildoes, and enough edible underwear to have a three-course meal.

Definitely have the same distinct memories. Except I spent mostly Saturdays there. Was VERY excited Senior Year when I had a dance at Casa Loma too.

STLgasm wrote:During high school, my friends and I used to drive to Cherokee Street on Friday afternoons to visit all the head shops (T-Shirt Headquarters, Spectrum's, Ngomsom's, etc). We called it the Bong District. A true city experience in every sense. Ngomsom's was our favorite, because they had a great selection of oversized rubber fists, 20-inch strap-on dildoes, and enough edible underwear to have a three-course meal.

In the same way that the 14th Street Mall is now Crown Square maybe Cherokee should be renamed The Bong District? There aren't any headshops left but the name harkens back to a simpler time when people of all types could coexist in peace.

stellar wrote: There aren't any headshops left but the name harkens back to a simpler time when people of all types could coexist in peace.

Coincidence?

There is actually one head shop still on Cherokee St. Can't remember the name- I think it used to be T-Shirt Headquarters and it is near Oregon. I thought it was closed too, but the night of Day of the Dead my neighbor and I were walking our dogs and it was open and we went in. They also sell porn and sex toys.

Susan wrote:There is actually one head shop still on Cherokee St. Can't remember the name- I think it used to be T-Shirt Headquarters and it is near Oregon. I thought it was closed too, but the night of Day of the Dead my neighbor and I were walking our dogs and it was open and we went in. They also sell porn and sex toys.

Hi Susan - Did you find anything good? See you Thursday?

cherokee is great. its going to be greater.

Firecracker Press has moved in and is a working letterpress. Tomorrow during the Cinco de Mayo street festival they are opening their retail store to the public for the first time.

Here's a sneak peak:









Another press opened recently next to Ft. Gondo called All Along Press:





I hear there's an art supply store going into the former Cherokee Auto Parts store.





I'm not sure when but understand there is a clothing boutique that specializes in hot rod fashions (think bowling shirts and fedoras and that kind of niche) and it's going in where Tension Head used to be.

Great update! Thanks, Stellar.

I always thought they were kinda tucked away on that viaduct. I still loved stopping in though. Good to hear that they're moving to one of my favorite streets in the City (or anywhere for that matter).

Hot Ink Clothing opened July 5th at 2619 Cherokee.

http://www.hotinkclothing.com/



The art supply store that I mentioned previously is still on track and I hear is going to be called City Art Supply.