Andrea Medeiros
amedeiros@abc6.com
The Arcade will be ready for business as early as next month. The end of September is when some of the retail stores can move into America's oldest indoor mall.
The announcement, Monday, is already stirring up excitement about a business boost for downtown.
"This space is ready for a retailer to be able to move in here and build out their space to what they want it to be, but the windows will be going in in the next couple weeks," said Arcade owner Evan Granoff of 130 Westminster Street Associates LLC.
It's a welcome sight for other Down City shop owners. In the four years The Arcade has been closed, they've seen a big drop in business.
"Quite a bit, I don't save any money anymore, but I pay my bills," said Copacetic Jeweler owner Don Beohner. His store was actually in The Arcade for 23 years before it closed in 2008.
"I'm really excited about it opening again, because when it closed, it was like putting up the Berlin Wall up," said Beohner, "It divided downtown, so this will be nice, it'll connect it and bring tourists back to the area."
Beohner's store is now a stone's throw away on Peck Street, next to another restaurant which also used to be based in The Arcade.
They've both found a way to survive without it. Another restaurant wasn't so lucky, the lack of business forced it to close. But City Council President Michael Solomon said a revamped Arcade is just the medicine they need.
"Foot traffic, it'll also bring some small businesses onto the first floor, which is good," said Solomon, "It's been vacant for awhile, so I just think it's going to add a nice touch to the city of Providence."
In addition to 14 shops and about 4 restaurants, starting in February, 48 loft apartments will also open on The Arcade's top floor. Its owner said many of the stores want to be up and running well before Christmas.
Keep in mind, just because the retail space is available in September, it doesn't necessarily mean the shops will be open then.
