By Don Nelson Two downtown Athens retailers and a newcomer to the central business district will play musical store fronts in the next few months. The Red Zone, a University of Georgia clothing and memorabilia shop at 155 E. Clayton Street will move across the street to 186 East Clayton Street, where Encore, a women’s upscale apparel shop does business. Encore will in turn move to 254 N. Lumpkin Street, the space in which Mama Goldberg Deli apparently didn’t make it next to the Georgia Theatre. Prompting the relocations of these two local clothing vendors is the arrival of national retailer Urban Outfitters which will occupy the current site of The Red Zone. News of Philadelphia-based Urban Outfitters’ plans to open a store in downtown Athens emerged a year ago based on Athens-Clarke County Planning Department documents. The deal involving Urban Outfitters began about three years ago, said Scott Towes, who opened The Red Zone with his wife Mindy Towes n 2003. The Towes signed a lease for the Encore space Thursday, November 13. They began working with local realtor Bryan Austin of Austin Sumner Properties in February to find a new location. They considered seven properties in downtown, Scott Towes said. In August, John Widmer, who with his wife Kitty Widmer started Encore, approached the Towes about taking over the Encore space, Towes said. Widmer sold Encore to Nikki Grant, the former manager of the store, and Grant signed a lease for the North Lumpkin Street space earlier in November. The Towes also opened another retail venture, I Love Athens, at 124 East Clayton Street — the former site of Lee’s Wigs, this past summer. The store sells Athens-related T-shirts and gifts. Also of note, the store is managed in part by local portrait artist Greg Harris. Harris uses the store as a gallery and as a working studio. Also working in the store is another long-time friend of the Towes, musician and writer Kemp Jones.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Nov 2014 03:23:05 +0000
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