MoSal Arts, B. collective open on Main St. Mall
More than 70 would-be shopkeepers sought space in Open on Main, the renewal of a Downtown Memphis Commission program to fill vacant storefronts on Main Street.
Two made the cut and opened this week, kicking off Open on Main’s second year.
MoSal Arts opened Thursday in the former Life Is Good clothing store at 100 Peabody Place on street level of the Peabody Place office tower. Life Is Good closed in early 2017.
MoSal Morszart is a visual artist whose work can be found around town, including at the Memphis Black Arts Alliance’s FireHouse Community Arts Center on Bellevue.
The shop, which will be open for the month of May, features boldly colored and textured paintings and sculptures with Memphis, music and Afrocentric themes.
It’s a step toward his dream of a gallery/studio space, said the artist, whose working name is a mashup of his given name, Morris Salliehart.
B. collective, run by Bridget Ann McClusky, opened Tuesday at 147 S. Main. It’s an artists market featuring art and hand-made items by a number of Memphis artists and makers.
It’s in the former Shelton Clothiers, which closed in 2013, between Lenny’s Sub Shop and Majestic Grille. B. collective was originally scheduled to run through June 30 but could be extended.
With about 25,000 people living Downtown, nearly 40,000 working in the core and thousands of new apartments under development or recently completed, officials believe Downtown is ripe for more retail.
Open on Main is part of Downtown’s retail strategy, DMC vice president of planning and development Brett Roler said. It activates empty spaces, improves the experience for pedestrians, spotlights commercial property openings and gives entrepreneurs a low-risk way to test the market.
“Additionally, successful retail needs a strong customer-base to be sustainable over time,” Roler said. “We’ve been deliberate about growing the Downtown population through proactive residential development and new investment in office recruitment.”
The DMC began Open on Main last summer with a monthly rotation of shops in four storefronts in the block of North Main between Adams and Madison. McClusky and Salliehart were part of the original effort.
This year the program is getting an earlier start that coincides with Downtown’s highest-traffic month. The stores are launching as the Beale Street Music Festival draws crowds and the Main Street Trolley returns after a nearly four-year absence.
McClusky, who goes by Bridget Ann, also operates a retail bay at Edge Alley at 600 Monroe, next door to High Cotton Brewing.
Because of its former tenant, the Shelton space has dressing rooms for trying on clothing items and plenty of shelves for art, crafts and handmade health and beauty products. “We’ve got everything from lip gloss to $1,600 paintings. The space was ideal for us,” McClusky said.
After a couple days, McClusky was talking about trying to extend the shop’s run through the summer. “It’s been amazing,” she said. “I don’t know that I’ve seen one person walk in here and not walk out with a sale,” McClusky said.
Salliehart said Open on Main is movement toward a longtime goal. “I want to be able to paint out of the studio and display in my gallery, and this place offers the best of both worlds.”
Reach reporter Wayne Risher at (901) 529-2874 or wayne.risher@ commercialappeal.com.