DATE: Thursday, August 28, 1997             TAG: 9708280481

SECTION: BUSINESS                PAGE: D1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY LINDA McNATT, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: SUFFOLK                           LENGTH:   84 lines

SUFFOLK STALWART LEAVING DOWNTOWN DENISON'S IS MOVING TO MORE ACCESSIBLE QUARTERS IN THE SUFFOLK SHOPPING CENTER.

Eugene Denison, one of downtown Suffolk's staunchest supporters and a merchant who stayed put long after others closed or relocated, is moving out.

Denison said Wednesday that his upscale ladies' apparel shop, which attracts women from all over Hampton Roads, will move north on Main Street to the Suffolk Shopping Center in October.

The new location, Denison said, ``fits into everything we need. It's more accessible to customers.''

In recent years, Denison said he's seen few benefits in his location across from the city's new courthouse.

City officials call the $4.2 million courthouse now under construction the hope for the city's central business district.

Denison said he sees it as the monster that ate downtown, but city officials disagree.

``We think just the opposite is happening,'' said R. Steven Herbert, the assistant city manager who is overseeing Suffolk's downtown revitalization program.

``New business is coming in. . . . We're talking to new people,'' Herbert said. ``The courthouse is going to be one of the major initiatives that will help us rebuild downtown.''

A native of Pennsylvania, Denison moved to Suffolk in 1955 after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania in industrial engineering management. In-laws introduced him to the women's clothing business in Suffolk's busy downtown.

Then, he recalled, the city attracted shoppers from South Hampton Roads, northeastern North Carolina and from Wakefield and Waverly in Sussex County. Denison's made its reputation by catering to well-dressed women with time and money to spend.

``People like the way they're treated here,'' he said. ``But, unfortunately, one of the things we've had that's attracted customers for so long - being in a quaint downtown - is gone.''

As the variety of merchants in downtown Suffolk dwindled, though, Denison held on. He was active in the Downtown Suffolk Association and served for years on the board. He was president from 1980 to 1985.

The beginning of the end was in 1990, when the city eliminated on-street parking on Main, he says.

``A lot of our customers are older; they have heart problems or emphysema,'' he said. ``They just can't walk long distances.''

That's when he started to see business decline, by as much as 10 percent in a single year.

In 1994, the city closed the municipal parking lot across the street from his store and started building the courthouse. There was another 10 percent decline.

``When that parking lot closed, we immediately became inaccessible,'' he said. ``The city has continually told us it will work things out. It hasn't happened. There's a perception of not being safe in downtown. I can't change perceptions.''

The state Department of Corrections and Western Tidewater Mental Health have offices three doors down from his shop.

The city will provide 350 parking places around the courthouse, but most will be for court employees, officials, lawyers and people using the courthouse.

Lynnette Park moved her family's dress shop, Holmes Ltd., up Main Street to the Suffolk Shopping Center about three years ago. Parking problems were definitely a factor, Park said.

``This is much more convenient for my customers,'' she said. ``They park 30 feet in front of my store and walk right in.''

City officials have promised there will be adequate parking for downtown shopping once dust from the courthouse settles sometime next year.

Denison isn't willing to wait.

``This is where I have spent the larger part of my life,'' he said. ``I was proud of Suffolk's downtown. I hope, sometime in the future, I can be proud of downtown again. I think what is happening to the central business district is due to actions by the city.''

``We're sorry to see any business leave the downtown,'' said the city's Herbert. ``I'm glad he's just moving down the street. I'm glad he's decided to stay in Suffolk.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

JOHN H. SHEALLY II/

The Virginian-Pilot

Eugene Denison adjusts a display in the window of his store on Main

Street for about the last time, as he prepares to relocate.

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