Cherokee Street Needs to Lose the “Antique Row” Designation
It seems everyone knows “Antique Row” is on Cherokee street between Lemp and Jefferson. This is good and bad. Mostly bad.
The business owners along Cherokee Street have done a great job marketing themselves as the place to buy antiques. Suburbanites that seem to know little about the city know how to find their way to Cherokee when they want to go antiquing. You will find the street packed with antique shoppers on Saturdays. The rest of the week is another story.
“The district, and indeed as many of its internal parts as possible, must serve more than one primary function; preferably more than two. These must insure the presence of people who go outdoors on different schedules and are in the place for different purposes, but who are able to use many facilities in common.”
The above quote is from Jane Jacobs’ classic book, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, as she describes one of four indispensable conditions “to generate exuberant diversity in a city’s streets and districts.” Cherokee relies on a single primary use – antique shoppers. With the exception of Saturdays I find the street to be dead.
The last time I was in one of the shops was nearly a year ago when a friend visited from Seattle. I have two houses full of stuff so the last thing I need to do is go antiquing. The street offers me little else. It doesn’t serve the daily needs of adjacent residents.
By contrast the blocks of Cherokee West of Jefferson are increasingly vibrant. Throughout the day and night you’ll see activity. On Thanksgiving Day I was able to purchase a wonderful pumpkin empanada at a Mexican bakery. Many customers on the street are pedestrians from adjacent blocks. Most businesses appeal to the lower incomes of residents with check cashing places, furniture rental and thrift stores. Despite these issues, the street feels genuine and I often will drive or bike down the street when I am in the area.
Back East of Jefferson we are seeing more and more vacant shops where antique dealers used to be. With the “success” of the street came higher building prices and increased rent which made it more difficult for antique dealers to survive. Other businesses such as bookstores and cafes face similar challenges as they rely heavily on the antique shoppers for their business.
Cherokee Street needs to lose the “Antique Row” designation in order to survive. The street needs a coffee house with wi-fi to attract people morning, noon and night the way Hartford Coffee does in the Tower Grove area. The street needs the diversity of uses found on the Loop. A small market. A place to buy CDs. A newstand. The simple grab a slice of pizza type place as well as a cloth napkins restaurant.
I don’t want to run off the antique dealers. I simply want to give people more reasons to visit the street. One new reason will be the opening of the Shangri-La Diner at 2201 Cherokee on Sunday April 10th. At this point I think it will only be for brunch but hopefully Patrice will extend hours during the week. [Note, for the past month or so Shangri-La has been operating out of the old Triple Expresso location at Lemp & Arsenal. Click here for more info on the brunch.]
At Cherokee and Lemp is O’Malley’s Irish Pub which seems to be doing a good job of creating some fun night life with food, drink and live music. The menu looks interesting but offers little for me as a vegetarian. Oh well, maybe I’ll stop in for a beer some night.
Ideally we will see the Eastern blocks of Cherokee diversify and offer more to the city resident not looking for antiques as well as reasons for the tourist/suburbanite to linger longer while antique shopping. I’d also like to see East and West begin to mix. Hopefully the blocks West of Jefferson can become less poverty-centric while continuing to serve the needs of the population.
Architecturally both sides of Jefferson are great. The scale is intimate and welcoming. East of Jefferson the buildings are much older with great wood and cast iron storefronts. West of Jefferson you get wonderful terra cotta detailing on larger buildings. The Casaloma Ballroom already provides a music/entertainment venue for the area.
Cherokee Street, East and West of Jefferson, has immense potential. Diversity is the key to sustaining the streets and ultimately the adjacent residential blocks. Clinging to an antique row designation at this point will do more harm than good.
– Steve
Cherokee Street also needs to get rid of the ornamental pear trees. For all the beautiful buildings lining the street, all you see in summertime are the leafy branches of the trees.
The tree canopy is too low for good strolling, and it completely hides the facades of the buildings.
RB
I’d have to disagree Rick. The street trees are the one thing that distinguish this street in this “state streets” area. And it’s the best thing currently linking the antique row east of Jefferson with the Hispanic west.
[Sorry Rick, I’m with Brian on the tree issue. I intentionally go down Cherokee East & West just because of the trees. They bring a great sense of scale to the street and make walking along the sidewalks a joy even in bright sun. Removal of the trees would be a major mistake. However, trimming up some low branches would likely help. – Steve]
We’ll have to agree to disagree on this one.
Steve, you’re good with the digital camera…
Why not take some shots of the street in June and we’ll compare notes…
Or, compare the street trees along Cherokee with the ones on Euclid in the CWE.
I think part of the problem on Cherokee is the narrow sidewalk and narrow street.
With all the pear trees, the place starts to feel like its all puffed up with too much vegetation. And trust me-I am a fan of street trees.
We moved off of our old block because of a lack of street trees (our neighbor didn’t want birds lighting in a tree to defecate on her car). Plus the many old people didn’t want to deal with the leaves. It was like living in a concrete desert. Ugggh. That and the speeding cars, after eleven years, we couldn’t take it any more.
Back to our conversation…doesn’t Euclid have wider sidewalks than Cherokee with taller trees creating a higher canopy?
It’s pretty hard to change the “shape” of the ornamental pear trees. They sort of look like a big bush. Plus, they don’t hold up very well in high wind.
Just my $.02
RB
A week or so ago my wife and I looked at a house around the corner from Cherokee on Utah between Compton and Virginia.
We didn’t end up buying the house but we did end up thinking about buying on Cherokee. What drew us initially were the trees. Once there, we stayed and looked around with great interest, noting the street’s invitingly human scale, mixed uses and interesting architecture.
If this street develops as it should–given all the activity nearby–people will want to do more than point to interesting vacant, marginal and derelict buildings as they drive by. They’ll get out of their cars, one hopes, in order to see the architecture up close and buy something at one of the now vacant shops.
The trees are a decided plus and should remain.
Just for clarification…my critique of the street trees on Cherokee is with the particular variety, not the idea of having trees. I wish they had planted a different species than the Bradford pear.
http://www.lsadecatur.net/tree%20pages/bradford_pear.htm
The above site gives more info about some of the problems with Bradford pear trees.
RB
[I certainly agree that Bradford Pears can be problematic. I’ve seen more than on Cherokee that has lost half of its canopy due to high winds. What I’d hate to see is a wholesale replacement program all at once. I could see a plan to replace trees with another species as they are damaged. I could also see some sort of plan where a tree is replaced on each block every 2-3 years. In this manner you are never without street trees. – Steve]
If there is any replacement, it should certainly not be wholesale, as I have heard planners suggest before. And, most important, the replacement species should also be flowering. The prospect of Cherokee with its gentle slopes in full bloom is majestic and an example of thoughtful visual planning.
Personally, I don’t mind Bradford pears on Cherokee. I enjoy the low canopy — as Steve points out, it creates an intimacy of scale that cannot be found on any other city street. Better maintenance would help, though.
Enough tree talk…let’s get back to Steve’s main point-to declassify Cherokee as “Antique Row”.
Heresy of heresy…trying to change something in St. Louis?
Hey, I just suggested a change to the street trees.
But change the _identity_ of an established city institution?
Surely, you’re kidding right?
RB
[Rick I am completely serious. Using antiques as a starting point worked well for the street but in the end diversity of uses must rule. Otherwise it is doomed to its current state. If you look at sites for Cherokee you can see they are already going this direction with non-antique stores becoming part of the mix. The heavy emphasis on antiques creates challenges to anyone thinking of opening a non-antique store – will customers find them? The Grand Arts District is a failed idea as well but I’ll save any further thoughts on that for a fulll blog entry. – Steve]
My mother’s former co-worker decided once her kids were done with school to start up her own coffee shop. She found a great place in the middle of “Antique Row.” She painstakingly rehabbed the home with side-entry into a coffee shop with her new residence above. Her husband helped her out too, giving much of his free time in addition to his retained job to help out his wife’s dream.
Well, unfortunately, folks just don’t go to eat and drink down on “Antique Row.” Aside from Saturdays, she never saw much foot traffic. Ultimately after a two-year run, she closed shop (over five years ago now). I do think the “Antique Row” stigma certainly had something to do with it.
Steve is right on with this one. I really like visiting “antique row”….but very rarely do I have a reason to visit that section of Cherokee. It is a great street with a great urban scale, but it is no match for the fantastic energy that is over on the west side of Jefferson, even though the west side is far less “attractive” in the sense of renovation that has occured.
I love the west side of Jefferson. It is very noisy and very much an urban neighborhood. Antique Row obviously has that same potential, but has no substantial diversity of uses.
Here on Staten Island, one block from the harbor, we’re used to being wind-whipped. Since we planted five Callery Pears 17 years ago, we’ve lost two outright, both snapped in high winds; and large sections of the three that remain.
The culprit is the branching habit of these trees, which has been eliminated in a new variety the city planted two years ago as a replacement for one of the two we’d lost. The other replacement tree is a Little Leaf Linden. Both have held their own in high winds and are doing beautifully.
The choice of Bradford or Callery Pear trees for Cherokee was not an ideal one. But their presence and their characteristics–first to flower, last to drop leaves, nice coloration when the leaves turn in the fall–are too valuable, surely, to lose at this stage in the street’s development.
Those trees–a real treat, after the barrenness of the surrounding blocks–were what drew a pair of novice househunters to Cherokee in the first place.
How about a Benton Park West Cherokee Street Tree Fund, to pay for cabling, if that’s an appropriate method of stabilizing trees that young? Cabling is what has saved an ancient standard Japanese Maple in our garden here in New York, and it’s really not that expensive.
Point is, there may be solutions other than outright or even gradual removal of the trees.
[Thanks Dan. The lesson here is to look at options and find those which are the least disruptive. – Steve]
In case it wasn’t obvious, my post about the heresy of proposing “change” in St. Louis was intended as sarcasm.
I like the idea of Steve’s suggestion. But what about the vendors there? The aldermen? Other stakeholder interests?
Can you picture the old dairy building that is situated on the north side of Cherokee in the middle of Antique Row?
I always thought it would be a great location for a neighborhood ice cream parlour, confectionary.
It’s a similar, though smaller version of the dairy building converted to the Grbic Bosnian restaurant at Meramec and Gravois.
Just for grins, it would be interesting to keep this thread alive as the notion of re-positioning Cherokee Antique Row into Cherokee “the street” is presented through a formal, community engagement strategy.
Cherokee, east of Jefferson, is part of the Benton Park neighborhood (or is it Marine Villa?), completely within the 9th ward.
Anyone have any idea how the neighborhood organization and alderman feel about this re, or better, “de-branding” concept?
RB
[Good questions Rick. I think presented in the right way this is a chance to integrate Cherokee and the residential streets. Like mosts cases, you’ll never have all the stake holders in agreement. My guess is long-time antique dealers would see this as risking their saturday business – failing to see the greater potential.
The dairy building is AWESOME! I’m picturing a landscaped restaurant patio where the parking is now. Regardless of use, the paving between sidewalk and building needs to be removed.
Unfortunately, like most of our great streets, Cherokee East of Jefferson is divided among two neighoborhoods: Marine Ville on the South and Benton Park on the North. West of Jefferson you get the same thing – Gravois Park on the South and Benton Park West on the North side. The entire Antique Row section of Cherokee is in the 9th Ward (along with a a couple of blocks West of Jefferson). Further West on Cherokee is in the 20th Ward.
– Steve]
Steve, I agree with you 100%. I live a half block south of antique row, and my boyfriend and I have been discussing these problems for years.
Part of the problem is the old school antique dealers like their historical village which is Antique Row/Demenil Mansion/Lemp Mansion which caters to the county crowd more than the neighborhood residents. It’s a fantastic local historic district, but it needs diversity of uses to thrive. Cafe Hebron coffee shop is a welcome addition, but they close at about 4:00, and what we need is some nighttime activity. We need good late night restaurants and coffee houses that aren’t primarily bars (and where vegetarians like us can get a meal). We need some small groceries and markets that stay open in the evening. There are people in the neighborhood who would patronize them. We already have a fantastic nightclub nearby with Off Broadway, another nightclub at the old dairy building would make the neighborhood a destination.
Cherokee west of Jefferson is a far more interesting district as far as diversity and city life. In my opinion they have two major problems: the pay day loan/rent to owns that must go, and the trash which no one wants to pick up in front of their businesses. Some of the buildings have had unfortunate 1950s alterations, but its not a local historic district like antique row.
Some cooperation between the two business districts would be a start. Our alderman is Ken Ortmann, and I don’t know what his opinion is. I have a feeling he wouldn’t want to upset the business owners that have been there for years.
Antique Row is part of the Benton Park National Historic District, but the north side of Cherokee is in the Benton Park neighborhood, the south side is in the Marine Villa neighborhood.
Susan
Rick, sometimes I have to be “conservative” just to defy those who think that I’m against everything.
Many points have been raised in this forum which are discussed on a regular basis by those who own property, own businesses, work and live on and near “Cherokee Antique Row”.
Antique Districts can and do thrive in other parts of the country – so, before suggesting a re-branding of the areas only recognizable feature – one might ask what efforts have been made, and by whom, to help the area succeed with the current branding concept? What role has Saint Louis City taken in the development and marketing of the cityÂ’s oldest and largest geographic concentration of individually owned and operated antique shops?
As for the trees, they are in a replacement program, as can be seen – on a rotating schedule – with different varieties. This is a subject of much consideration by the Cherokee Antique Row Merchants Association as well as the Cherokee-Lemp Special Tax District, the St. Louis Development Corporation, the Alderman, etc…
As for the dairy, lots of people think the dairy building would make a great ice cream parlor, but it is privately owned and unless the owner wants to sell (at last check, he doesn’t) and someone wants to invest in a new business then our opinions won’t make a difference.
Patronizing those businesses who reflect your interests in the neighborhood however will make a difference – note the eateries: Shangri-La Diner at 2201 Cherokee, Sassafras at 2118 Cherokee, and O’Malley’s Irish Pub at 1900 Cherokee.
You might also witness the diversification of business types with the addition in the past few years of a well known St. Louis furrier, DeMay Limited at 2020 Cherokee, a new greenhouse and flower shop, Sally’s Floral and Garden Design at 2116 Cherokee, or JasperÂ’s Tropical Fruit Gift Baskets at 2024 Cherokee. We have also seen in influx of Interior Designers and an increase in vintage verses antique dealers. Note: Felice Designs, Interior Accents, Black Cat, Metamorphosis and Retro 101 and Pixie 9 Vintage, RuthÂ’s Vintage Clothing and HearthBeats Vintage Kitchen Wares.
Having lived on or near “Antique Row” for over 10 years I can easily say that if Cherokee Street east of Jefferson were to become like the west side I’d move out. Here, I can walk down the street at night with no fear of personal injury… start walking west after dark and see how for you get before you feel uncomfortable.
I recently visited “Antique Row” east of Jefferson on Cherokee. In my group were friends from Long Island, NY, North/west suburbs of Chicago and southern Illinois. We found the variety of shops charming, diverse and for the most part shop keepers were very friendly. The combination of old school antique dealers mixed with the retro shops was refreshing and all five of us found items to our liking including English china, Catholic statues, regency furniture, a 1950’s evening gown and I can’t leave out the 1970’s polyester slacks with matching retro bowling shoes (great for an upcoming fundraiser). There is definately a need for a place to have lunch or to grab a quick snack. I do have to say that we felt safe as long as we left the area by sun set. One thing we did not see was any consistant police patrol, in fact we did not see a security person or police officer at any time in the two afternoons we spent there. That is one thing that gives a sense fo security in Chicago (even in quaint Long Grove, IL). Trees are definately a petty matter here. I sorry to say I feel I have to keep my car doors locked at all times in St. Louis even on east Cherokee.