Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 23, 1993                   TAG: 9306230081
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-1   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY  
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PULASKI                                LENGTH: Medium

DOWNTOWN PULASKI BUSINESS-PROMOTION GROUP HAS 1ST MEETING

About two dozen of them gathered in the soon-to-open New Renaissance restaurant in Pulaski to discuss ideas. Among them: joint purchasing of items many of them use, cooperative advertising, working as a group to promote the interests of downtown Pulaski before Town Council and spreading their efforts to other stores and offices beyond the Main Street core.

"I think everybody has seen a lot of progress on downtown Main Street," said Jeanette Stephens of Main Street Galleries who called for the meeting. "It's really coming to a head right now. . . . We're trying to get an organization for all of us, not just a few of us."

New Main Street initiatives helped bring many of those at the meeting to Pulaski in the past eight months to open new stores.

Downtown Pulaski is being advertised as an antiques and art center.

"So we've got to keep a positive image out front for the New River Valley as well as up and down the East Coast," Stephens said.

Paul Etzel, owner of the New Renaissance, which is opening next month, said if someone had suggested that he start a restaurant in downtown Pulaski two or three years ago, "I probably would've laughed and gone the other way."

But the success by the revived Pulaski Main Street Inc. program in wooing new antiques, arts, music and other businesses to fill downtown stores has created a new attitude, he said.

"I'm pretty much here today to see that it stays that way for the next 10 or 15 years."

Other possibilities include working on common hours of operation for the various businesses.

Etzel said that while he is working at night on readying his restaurant, he has seen 50 to 60 people a week tugging at locked doors.

"There is a lot of business that a lot of people are losing. I've witnessed this just by looking out the window."

"I remember when it was vibrant down here," said George Penn, who recently opened Ellery's Blues & More to bring musical entertainment to downtown. "We have a renaissance that's taking place down here."

"When it was booming, it was the best town between Roanoke and Bristol," said Bob Wallace. But people became complacent and it deteriorated, he said.

Now, he said, "the lights are on in the windows. The streets are clean, the doors are clean. . . . I think we'll see Pulaski come back to being a great little town."

"I've been here quite a while and I've seen some downturns," said Dr. John C. McElroy, whose optometry office is on Main Street. "I'm happy to see some upturns now, and some enthusiasm."

Mary Goodwin, director of the Fine Arts Center of the New River Valley, said news of the revived downtown has drawn visitors from outside Pulaski. Eighty percent of those who sign the register in the center gallery now are from other places, she said.

She said the center could stay open later with more volunteers.

One possibility is under the Green Thumb program, which funds jobs for people age 65 or older who meet certain income guidelines. Surprisingly, Goodwin said, there is a lack of people available for that program.

The group will hold its second meeting Tuesday at the Renaissance at 9 a.m. to discuss officers, bylaws and other activities.

"For so long, we didn't have this image and pride that we have now," said Karen Graham of the Somethin' Fishy pet store. "We've got to all work for it."