The owners of businesses that once lined Union Street are in different states of construction and recovery, but all looking forward to the street's renovation.
Kismet, the boutique that once stood at 16 W. Union St., was what brought Meredith Allen to Athens she said, but it was Honey that kept her here.
“I hate to say it but if the fire had not happened, Honey wouldn’t — I wouldn’t be here,” she said. “It definitely sparked it for me to do it because I didn’t have anything to do.”
Although the fire that occurred on Union Street on Nov. 16, 2014, was a significant deterrence, the majority of businesses are back up and running one year later — even thriving.
Allen, the co-owner of new lingerie and adult store Honey, 13 W. Union St., even attributes the fire to her business’s very existence.
“Working at Kismet was my career and I loved it and I always thought that in my future maybe I’ll open up my own shop or something but definitely not in Athens because you don’t want to (compete),” Allen said. “I was satisfied with what I was doing.”
She also briefly got a job at The Other Place, 43 S. Court St., before opening Honey, but it just wasn’t Kismet, Allen, who was the former manager of the Athens Kismet, said.
“I loved Kismet, and it definitely had (Kismet’s owners) Jocelyn and Victor’s personality in it and that is what I am kind of striving to do here is to kind of put my personality into the space,” she said. “It was beautiful over there and I hope to make my space as beautiful but as expressive of our personality.”
Not all business owners affected by the fire could say they were that lucky.
“Losing our location was very hard on us,” Natasha Neal, co-owner of Jack Neal Floral, said. “I mean we are a family business and we have been here for so many years. Then of course to see what it looks like now that it’s gone is — it’s just basically devastating … a hole in the wall where once your life was.”
Jack Neal Floral moved off West Union Street to 80 E. State St., in order to reopen.
When asked if Neal wanted to moved back to the old location, she said she was not sure.
“I think it depends on how long it takes, because I don’t really want people to get comfortable with where we are,” Neal said. “Then (if) too much time passes and we decide to move back and then it’s sort of trying to figure out where we are all over again. I would want to avoid that confusion at all costs.”
Mary Cheadle, the owner of Uptown Dog T-Shirts, 9 West Union St., moved her business across the street from her old location after the fire.
Uptown Dog T-Shirts was the first business to reopen after the fire, and Cheadle said the new location will likely be permanent.
“(I will) keep Uptown Dog over here just because this business is working out well for us here — the size of it, the layout of it, all of the work that we did in order to move in here,” Cheadle said. “We made it specific to Uptown Dog.”
Additionally, Cheadle said she will have the option to re-rent the new space built in Uptown Dog’s old location.
“The idea is that when they reopen, I will try another business over there,” she said.
As to what kind of business it will be, Cheadle is not sure yet, but she has been doing some research.
“I have always had the desire to try some other businesses in town and I want to be a part of the revitalization of this street,” Cheadle said. “I would be proud to be someone who is bringing new business, new job opportunities, new growth to Athens by being someone who not only is a business owner but is someone who survived the fire and then went on.”
West Union’s business owners said they are waiting for the construction and remodel of these buildings to be finished.
Although the damage to Jackie O’s, 24 W. Union St., was minimal in comparison to that of the other buildings, its business was “significantly affected” by the West Union Street fire, Art Oestrike, the manager of Jackie O’s Pub and Brewery, said.
“It looks like a warzone on Union,” Oestrike said. “So it’s not the most welcoming. … It’s been very annoying, the day to day has been different for a long time.”
As for numbers, the 2015 sales for Jackie O’s alone faced a 41.7 percent loss compared to 2014 before the fire.
“The sidewalk being fenced off does not help at all,” Oestrike said in an email.
Also, the 22 W. Union kitchen in Jackie O’s is still under construction.
“The only reason we have food right now is because we built a kitchen in 24 W. Union St. that had been closed from (the) 2009 fire,” Oestrike said. “But the kitchen is what drives (the public house) and we still do not have that kitchen. The kitchen in 24 West Union is 1/10th the size of the one at 22 West Union.”
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Alex Couladis, an accountant and one of the three brothers that own the buildings that rent to Jackie O’s and The Union Bar & Grill, said everyday there is a new complication to reconstruction. Despite that, he is hopeful to reopen as soon as possible.
“The tentative time frame is when second semester starts,” Couladis said. “We hope to have it open by second semester. That’s the goal, but there’s been lots of delays and it’s been a slow process.”
Regardless of the difficulty that these businesses had to deal with in the past year, Couladis said the owners of The Union are anxious to reopen.
“We still hope that it will have the same flair,” he said. “The Union has been there for so long, the bar has been there for 70-some years so we hope that it can continue what it’s been, but it will just be a little different look and certainly a lot nicer building inside.”
Eric Gunn, one of the co-owners of The Union, said this past year has been long, but he is excited to get things back up and rolling.
“When we’re opening up it won’t be a secret. … We’ll let everybody know and we’ll do our best to show everybody a good time when that happens,” Gunn said. “So I am looking forward to it finally getting done. … It hasn’t been an easy year just sort of sitting around and waiting — (it’s) never fun.”
Although most of the upgrades to the building will be to do with standards and codes of safety, there is also going to be a new patio added onto the back of the bar, Gunn said.
Even though there are some new additions, Gunn said it will still be the same Union everyone has known.
“These things happen and you could be upset about it or you could say, ‘What do we do to make it better?’ and get back up and get it rolling again — so we’re trying to do that,” Gunn said.
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