Business owners hope new social district will jumpstart downtown Concord

CONCORD, N.C. — Concord is the latest community to add sipping and strolling.

Business owners told Channel 9′s Almiya White this will add an exciting new layer to the downtown area.

“When we started five years ago, we weren’t even allowed to serve beer on tap here. So, you know, going from that at the beginning of our business to now being able to serve you to-go,” said Emily Corderl, the owner of Press & Porter in downtown Concord.

She says she’s excited about the new opportunity coming to the area.

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“This kind of allows people to come in, grab a drink, and walk around and enjoy the rest of downtown and not just be stuck in one business,” she said.

Concord City Council voted Thursday to allow its new social district to go into effect on Aug. 1. The city’s planning and neighborhood development director told White 11 businesses are interested in taking advantage of the social district, including Press & Porter.

“We’re kind of just looking for anything to jumpstart businesses back to normal,” Corderl said.

Corderl says businesses have struggled enough, from COVID-19 to downtown construction. She says this extra layer of opportunity will boost sales.

“We do a lot of local drafts. So, we’re planning on kind of ramping that up,” she said, adding, “So we’re really excited to just kind of ramp up our beer sales.”

Sandra West lives in the area. She’s hoping this will attract new businesses.

“More foot traffic, more people will bring more great local businesses to the area,” she said. “And again, after all the construction that has been occurring, we’ve lost a lot of businesses.”

Signs showing the parameters and which businesses are involved will be posted downtown. The city said businesses will have to provide to-go cups with a sticker attached.

Some of the likely social district signs that will be posted throughout downtown Concord.

“Just being able to get out and really be a part of your community — whether you choose to drink or not, it’s still a nice option, you know,” West said.

The City of Concord will provide training to businesses ahead of Aug. 1.

White checked in with nearby Kannapolis to see how their social district is going. They said they have six downtown businesses that participate, adding the public and owners are very positive about the district.

(VIDEO: Social district officially opens in downtown Pineville)