Locals continue to open up shop on Bull Street corridor

Over the last three years, the Bull Street corridor south of Forsyth Park and north of Victory Drive has experienced tremendous growth as locally owned businesses continue to open in one of Savannah’s fastest growing sectors.

Adding to several mainstays in the area, 13 new businesses have opened their doors along one of the city’s main veins. From an art supply shop, to a natural oil store, vegan cafe, barber shop and multiple restaurants, the range of businesses moving into the area has been varied. Encapsulated in part of the corridor is the now ubiquitous Starland District, which has drawn the attention of national media outlets. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/17/realestate/commercial/in-savannah-where-change-is-slow-an-art-district-is-catching-on.html?_r=0

While locals have watched the tourist heavy Broughton Street shift over the last few years with a slew of national chains moving in, and the price of rent shooting up, The Bull Street corridor has become more attractive for locally-fueled startups.

“It had potential,” Linda Fuller, co-owner of La Terra Natural Oils said. “I have a friend who’s a Realtor who said people are really looking here. Because the rent on Broughton was skyrocketing. We just kind of thought, the price is sweet. We bought, we didn’t rent. We had the opportunity to buy a lot more and we didn’t. I wish, looking back, we had.”

Fuller’s business has doubled since they opened their doors in July of 2015. Around Fuller’s shop and along the corridor, several other new businesses have cropped up in just the last year. Bell Barber Company, Natural Selections, Bull Street Taco, The LGBT Center, White Whale Craft Ales and the Foxy family’s newest store, Henny Penny Art Space &Cafe, all opened their doors in 2017.

Woof Gang Bakery opened a new location at 1601 Bull St. in July of 2017 as well. The Vault Kitchen and Market, an Asian fusion restaurant owned by Savannah restaurant group Ele and the Chef, opened in 2016 at 2112 Bull St.

Sulfur Studios, a co-op of artists, opened shop in November 2014 at 2301 Bull St. after the three founders, Jennifer Moss, Alexis Javier and Emily Earl, were looking for an art space. Now, several other artists also occupy the building, which features a gallery and event space as well. Earl, a Savannah native whose own business Prismatic Prints is in Sulfur, echoed Fuller’s sentiments.

“When things really started to change on Broughton Street, everybody was saying where are all of the local businesses going to go?” Earl said. “It’s become such a tourist thing. Everybody was saying south of the park is where it’s all happening. That conversation was real big several years before we opened here. At the time, I had no plans to open a business here. I think that’s definitely happening now. In the next year, two years, this area might be unrecognizable. That’s how it’s been here, since we opened up.”

The partially city-funded community engagement organization Creative Coast moved shop to Bull Street in March and has since launched the highly successful Bull Street Labs. Shifting from Boundary Street, the organization has seen a huge uptick in traffic at the new location.

“Bull Street Labs is the official destination,” said Creative Coast Community Manager Coco Papy. “Creative Coast has their office in there. We wanted Bull Street Labs to be a physical container space for cool stuff to happen. “We’re in a really good place for this year. We’re at capacity, which is awesome. We’ve got all kinds of awesome people working in the space. It’s a shift that makes a lot of sense. I think Starland is a neighborhood that is showcasing what’s happening in Savannah. It makes sense for us to be there.”

In 2015, Starlandia Supply opened its doors. Owner Clinton Edminster had worked in the area for years and when it came time to launch his own business, the Starland District made the most sense, financially and aesthetically.

“I had been doing work in the Starland District, at that point, for four years,” Edminster said. “I knew I wanted it to be somewhere in there. I was looking for somewhere between 37th and Victory on Bull Street, maybe Drayton or Abercorn. I had tracked down a couple different projects. It ended up being 2438 Bull St.

“Over 60 percent of our clientele is SCAD students. The cool thing about that is the SCAD students provide the foundation for super-cool store like Starlandia to survive and be available for the rest of the city. It’s a small demonstration of how different types of industries support local business.”

SCAD’s Arnold Hall is located right in the middle of the corridor, drawing a vast number of students during the school year to the area. Just outside of Starland District, SCAD continues to grow and expand with dormitories and class rooms cropping up just north of Victory.

Locals have flocked to the area while major developers have held off for the most part. Even the lack of proximity to the tourist-heavy Historic District has not stifled growth as locals and students continue to patronize businesses. “I definitely think that south of Forysth is heavily locally infused,” Papy said. “Which doesn’t mean that the forest is watered down here. I do think that it’s really important that the Starland area has been built up by locals. I think people have a really deep seated love and protectiveness for these areas. How do we create new things, but how do we protect the things that we treasure. I think that’s an important balance to play.

“For someone who grew up in Savannah and used to go to 2424, and the Starland Dairy for punk shows, it is different. It’s a change that is overall positive for most folks. That doesn’t mean we can’t have conversations about who get’s left behind and who get’s put forward. I think overall, Starland has been fostered by locals, which is important.”

The conversation around the future of the area has been contested at times. Most local business owners don’t want to experience a Broughton Street-style boom, which could potentially run them and residents out due to rising rental costs. The consensus seems to be for locally owned businesses to thrive and allow that to play into a larger picture of economic growth in Savannah that includes conversations about residents as well as tourists.

“It’s a very complicated thing,” Earl said. “I really love the diversity that is here right now. To me, that is really important and part of what makes this an awesome area. Through the studio, we have to be very careful to understand that some of the stuff that has happened in the last couple of years, we might have had a part in. We’re bringing people to this area that weren’t coming here before. I just think it’s important to know your neighbors and respect the businesses that have been here for 30 or 40 years. That is what makes the neighborhood so interesting.”

Last year, Foram Group won the bid for a city-owned property at 2115 Bull St. They introduced a new mixed-use development plan for the property, Starland Village, to the public last year. The plan includes a music venue and event space that will seat 600 to 800 people, office space, retail space, restaurants and residential space.

“I think what’s important for me and us at the Creative Coast is that we’re really working with small local businesses to help foster and grow them,” Papy said. “That’s essentially to our mission. How do we keep people here, doing something that they want to do and get a paycheck from it. If we attract people here, how do we attract people who also want to take that approach. To root down and really get involved in the community and creating something that’s benefiting a large part of the community.

“I put my business here, because I like the neighborhood,” said Ryan Graveface of Graveface Records &Curiosities. “I thought it was awesome. I thought it had texture and character, because it was dirty. It has not changed one bit. There are no parking meters. No one even knows where they can park. There are no signs. People ask where to park. I say, everything fine. There are no rules. You’re in Starland. I love it. I would never ever ever move the business.”

“What is cool about the Starland District, is I don’t have to consciously say I am going to shop locally today,” Edminster said. “I do, because it’s convenient. That’s what’s really cool about the design.”