Business picks up on Morganford
Jim Merkel
Of the Suburban Journals
South Side Journal
09/20/2006
When the Tin Can Tavern and Grille opened at 3157 Morganford Road in March 2005, its location was a matter of economics.
"It was one of the areas that we could afford to purchase a building," said Josh Alt, an owner of the Tin Can.
"There was really nothing going on when we got down here," Alt said. "When we came down here, probably 80 percent of them were boarded up."
There's been enough activity on the area of Morganford south of Arsenal Street to attract the attention of Mayor Francis Slay in his blog,
www.mayorslay.com.
"Morganford Road, between Chippewa and Arsenal, is now attracting significant interest from people interested in opening new businesses." Slay wrote. "Up next? An art gallery, day spa and restaurant in the 3100 block."
Once people saw the Tin Can in business, some things started happening, Alt said.
A business association started for the area and the mayor and the local alderman, Joseph Vollmer, D-10th Ward, took an interest in the street, Alt said.
Business is great, Alt said. "It's actually better than what we had expected it to be," he said.
The Tin Can specializes in home-style food and canned beer, Alt said.
"The street itself, it's just a natural area for business development," said Bill Waggoner of Grove Furnishings, 3169 Morganford Road.
The business, which specializes in handcrafted furniture made by local artisans, has been in existence for about a year and a half.
"It gets better by the day and with the other things going on, it's picked up significantly within the last year," Waggoner said. He's expecting banner sales at Christmas.
"We've got a couple of buildings that are under construction and a couple of businesses that should be open within the next few months," Waggoner said.
Among his positions, Waggoner is president of the Tower Grove Business Association, which covers the area from Interstate 44 to Chippewa Street and from South Grand Boulevard and South Kingshighway Boulevard. It mostly includes businesses in the "interior" of that area and not on Kingshighway or Grand.
"It's actually a pretty natural progression. Most of the area around us is developed or being developed," Waggoner said.
Among the renovation projects going on is at 3182-84 Morganford.
Morganford Plaza LLC bought a former bakery at that location and is renovating it to be a full-service restaurant and catering outlet. On the Connecticut Street side of the building there will be a doughnut and pastry shop.
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