MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Business owners in Downtown Memphis are hopeful that the upcoming renovations at 100 North Main will bring more life to the area and attract more customers.

If you have been downtown on Main Street, it’s likely you have seen boarded-up buildings and empty storefronts.

This is not lost on business owners like Wanda Wallace, who has run her Wrapzody Sandwich Shop on Main Street near City Hall for 16 years.

“So a lot of our business is really focused on conventions coming here to help keep us going,” said Wallace.

She has seen businesses come and go.

“Just people just not getting out of spending money like they used to, you know, so they couldn’t really afford to hang on,” she said.

For businesses trying to thrive here and hoping the traffic will come, it’s a wait-and-see.

“We’re really looking forward to 100 North Main and all the great opportunities that it’s going to bring to us in the revenue to keep the businesses going,” said Wallace.

We walked Main Street with Downtown Memphis Commission President and CEO Chandell Ryan. She says the closed storefronts are signs of growth, many connected to ongoing construction at 100 North Main.

“It was just a part of the overall blight remediation of this entire block,” said Ryan. “So it’s going to change the look and vibe of the North Main area of downtown. It’s going to be transformational.”

Ryan’s job is to promote downtown and get businesses excited about opening up here. Now, they have brought someone on board to get the message out even more – a Commercial Strategist.

“So the commercial strategies role is to attract and to retain the businesses that are downtown. We’re really focusing on Main Street,” she said. “We want to ensure that there is a good pedestrian experience. So not only are we looking at beautification efforts, but we’re looking at opportunities for new businesses to locate in our pedestrian mall spaces.”

The DMC says that last year, they were able to get $20 million worth of development for downtown by offering $600,000 in incentives to renovate.

“It does two things. It helps them to be a business downtown that could live beyond the program. It also helps us because we want to see the space activated. So it is a win-win scenario for all of us,” said Ryan.

New businesses like Crown Tower Market Place, a retail store, latched on, grabbing free rent for a year to open in a prime city spot.

“There’s so many, you know, hidden costs when doing business that this definitely is helped for us having this for a year,” said Crown Tower Retail owner Brittany Cole.

Crown Tower vendors like Devin Kirkland, who sells his creations from the store, have already seen the difference in being in the heart of downtown.

“Now that we actually have a door that faces a major street, we have just a walk away presence. So that’s the biggest difference there. And I will say the second biggest difference is the vibe, the sense of community that we have here,” Kirkland said.

Crown Tower owner Brittany Cole says the key is making it work and keeping business going.

“I’m hoping that after that year we’ll at least get, you know, a grant to stay open because we love being down here,” Cole said.

It’s what other businesses worry about. Will it lead to more boarded-up buildings because there is just not enough happening on the north end to sustain a customer base?

Comeback Coffee recently announced that after six years, their North Main Coffee Shop is closing.

They say development promises for the Pinch District never panned out, and that’s one reason they can’t survive here, saying, “It has become apparent to us that the Pinch is too many years away from having the community to sustain a shop. We don’t see an optimistic path forward in this location any time in the near future.”

“We want to be thriving, too. We want the same attention that’s given to the South. And we know we want the revenue to be put into the downtown north end as well,” said Wallace.

That is important since the north end of Main is where the convention center and tons of visitors spend time in the city.

“The Sheraton is going to be another project that’s on the north end. And also, there are a few businesses that received grants from DMC also on the North end,” Ryan said. “The investment that we are making in beautifying the area so that it remains an attractive space for people to visit.”

The DMC says it works with businesses to help them thrive and offers grants that can help them stay open.

“So we talk to them about marketing. We talk to them about their business plan and how to be viable in their space. After that one-year period is done, we will all sit down and have a conversation about whether this is the right fit for that organization and could end up in them having their own lease,” said Ryan.

Crazy Coop opted for downtown Main Street, too, opening one of the first-wing restaurants in the area.

“I would just think it would probably be out of my price range. You know, I was thinking about the businesses that were closing downtown, and I was like, if these businesses are closed, have been here, and they’re leaving, who am I to come down here? And that was my fault, honestly, you know. And so I stepped out on faith and believe in God,” said Darius Buckner, owner of Crazy Coop.

But they made it happen and have plans to make sure they thrive in a spot they say has plenty of potential.

“It’s giving me hope to say, okay, business is going to be good down here because what we have, again, nobody has what we have. And so we just, we can stand on this corner and boldly claim that we got some good stuff here. We have good food; the food’s good,” Buckner said.

This is all in the hopes of bringing more life to a main section of the city and making sure all on Main Street reap the benefits.

The renovations at 100 North Main are underway, but we are told it will still be several years before they are complete.