New businesses are popping up in Downtown Roanoke. The Chamber of Commerce says it is a sign things are on the uptick.
"It really does point to the bigger picture of what is happening in our economy, and you see a real positive explosion,” said Joyce Waugh.
Frogurt, The Quarter, and City Bliss opened in the last month. Mick Cho, the owner of City Bliss, says they have been looking for an excuse to open a coffee shop in downtown Roanoke. The economy was the perfect reason.
"It is growing. There are a lot of new businesses open, and is receptive to new businesses,” says Cho.
The Chamber of Commerce says about 800 people live downtown. All those people make the area livelier than it was years ago, says Cho.
Seeing the economy improve and more people coming to the area, the people that own Annie Moore’s and Brambelton Deli, decided to open 'The Quarter,' jumping in on the action downtown.
"The location of being in downtown Roanoke, and we wanted to bring a little New Orleans to downtown Roanoke,” says Ben Sanders.
With people and different businesses coming downtown, Pannu Singh saw the perfect opportunity to open Frogurt
"We got a great response, people are loving it,” says Singh.
But for years we heard of businesses closing. So are more businesses really opening? We are checking on this, and tomorrow we'll show you how many businesses have opened compared to the last couple of years.
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