New Spartanburg music series to help downtown foot traffic

SPARTANBURG — With some downtown restaurants reporting falling foot traffic, including recently closed Smoking Butt Heads BBQ, the city of Spartanburg has announced a new music series intended to help businesses along Wall Street.

The small-scale events will be held each Wednesday from August to October, the city announced last week on social media. Details are still being worked out with the help of nearby businesses, city spokesperson Christopher George said.

“We want to make sure that the hours are right for them. We want to make sure that the format is right for them,” he said. “Because this is really all about supporting those businesses during this time.”

Wall Street, the pedestrian-only alley that connects Broad Street to the western edge of Morgan Square, used to have natural foot traffic, George said. He called it a major pedestrian access point to both Morgan Square and the larger downtown area.

That changed when construction took over the area, with a new city-county complex, a hotel and other projects that are part of more than a half-billion dollars in development in the heart of the city. Foot traffic will return, he said, but it’s “going to be a little while” before people are living and parking across the street again.

In the meantime, the city is looking to give people a reason to visit the street, he said.

The events will be held the day before Music on Main, which happens each Thursday at the Morgan Square stage, but George said the two will be very different experiences.

Instead of a concert with a full band and a big sound system, the performances on Wall Street each Wednesday will be smaller, more intimate and allow people to enjoy the space itself, he said. The idea is that each performance “creates some ambiance and makes it a more welcoming space.”

There could also be more attractions than just music, but that will be decided with the help of nearby businesses. City officials are set to meet with them Monday to iron out some details of the event.

George declined to share when in the day the events would be held, saying he’d rather wait to hear from the nearby businesses on what they would like to see. But the city is asking local performers interested in participating to sign up, with two time slots available: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 6-8 p.m.

The city is involving the nearby businesses, George said, so the events can be tailored to their needs.

Even early promotion of the event is helping shine a light on the restaurants along Wall Street. The city’s announcement post specifically notes The SamMitch Shop, Ali Baba and Health in Hand as places to grab food or drinks to enjoy during the entertainment.

The new music series is the latest effort by the city to reduce the impact of construction on downtown businesses. Others include the expanded free parking hours in local parking garages, free valet services and free shuttles that run during certain hours.

“We’re constantly in conversation with businesses about ways to support them through our events, especially during this time,” George said.

The city doesn’t necessarily want to lead efforts — it wants to do things alongside the businesses, he said, because they best understand their customers.