Clayton's downtown impresses planners, business owners from across North Carolina

By Rebecca Putterman

rputterman@newsobserver.com

CLAYTON It's not unusual to see people stopping to take out their iPhones and snap a picture on Main Street in downtown Clayton, but it usually happens during the Christmas Village and parade -- not on a Wednesday in the middle of January.

As the town of Clayton played host to the N.C. Department of Commerce's N.C. Main Street Conference, which brought 350 to 400 town planners and business owners to Clayton from across the state, development directors and boutique owners alike couldn't stop talking about what Clayton-born ideas they should bring home with them.

From one of the Virginia's main street program's architects, to Brevard's downtown director, and down the street to Selma's town manager, folks from roughly every small town in North Carolina descended upon Main Street on Jan. 25 to learn a thing or two from Clayton's extensive downtown development efforts.

"We should be spending money on infrastructure," remarked Waxhaw business association member Tim Giovanniello to the Waxhaw planning director as they walked by the Lucky Chicken (take-out menus in hand), following Clayton downtown planning director Bruce Naegelen in one of the three Main Street walking.

Giovanniello was enamored with how wide the sidewalks are, how neatly pruned the Holly trees are, and how aesthetically pleasing the shrubbery was despite the logistic benefits of fitting it below the power lines. How useful those factors would be for a town event and foot traffic, he proclaimed.

Others were similarly impressed by the town's trees lining Main Street from South Robertson up to the Second Street intersection. Many even took a picture or two to send back to their bosses.

Kim Provost, owner of Hunters and Gatherers in downtown Brevard, an American-made only crafts boutique, was one of the many who took a photo of the trees on local business owner and Woman's Club Main Street volunteer Joyce Blackley's walking tour.

However, Provost was more impressed by the familiar home-made philosophy of Eye of the Eagle art studio and gallery on Front Street.

Facing south Clayton and the railroad tracks, Front Street, many conference attendees remarked, is not the kind of place you would find vibrant businesses in most downtown areas. Not so, in Clayton.

History for sale

Visitors were sashayed through the Eye of the Eagle after owner and art instructor Bonnie Hunt threw open the front door and invited everyone inside with a loud voice and a smile.

Next, picture-taking business owners on Blackley's tour whispered together in awe as they visited My Girlfriend's Place, a large Queen Ann-style home down from Hunt's studio.

Freshly painted in a light, mossy green emphasized by the darker green trim, the home looms over the railroad tracks, looking like it once was: purely residential.

But those preconceived notions were quickly dismissed upon entry, as Main Street visitors inhaled the smell of fresh-baked cheesecake, checked their wind-blown hair in ornate mirrors, and admired the antique settees in the front parlor-turned pedicure room.

"Everything downtown should be unique, instead of like going to the big city experience," remarked Brevard downtown director Madrid Zimmerman, admiring Clayton's stores after leaving My Girlfriend's Place. She compared Clayton's downtown businesses to the shops in Brevard, like the famous learning oriented, non-tech-centric Taylor's toy shop.

Thrilled by the efforts made toward including Clayton's downtown side streets and Front Street, the Brevard contingent talked about one of their goals to engage and promote side streets in their downtown area.

"It's interesting touring historical homes used commercially," Zimmerman said. "Not a lot of downtowns are intrigued with the impact of having businesses downtown instead of just on Main Street."

She added that the Heart of Brevard is concerned about some businesses that might feel left out of downtown development and events.

But the cheesecake-baking, toe-nail painting, hair-cutting lady in the Victorian? Zimmerman could tell that My Girlfriends' Place owner, Dawn Thompson-Black, wasn't feeling left out of Clayton-area events.

Standing by the ornate Victorian front doors and greeting the visitors as they walked up and down the curving staircase, Thompson-Black couldn't have been more involved. In fact, the mouthwatering cheesecake fed the conference attendees at the reception two hours later at the Wagner House on Main Street.

"We need to be proactive and galvanize these folks to be involved," Zimmerman said of her own town's needs to mirror Clayton's efforts.

Some folks did notice the oddly large number of hair salons and barber shops around the downtown area, asking Naegelen to explain.

"They keep coming, and none of 'em go out of business," Naegelen remarked to the walking group. "They're traffic drivers," he explained.

Audrey Whetten, the Clinton downtown planner, said she hadn't thought about how salons and barber shops bring people downtown. But it only makes sense to come into town for a haircut, and then go off and grab a cup of coffee, meet up with friends at Jones' for lunch, or go pop into the thrift store and see what collectible mugs have come in that week.

After someone asked Naegelen what Clayton's biggest downtown employer was, Naegelen explained that each shop employs roughly the same number of people, aside from the Town and the schools. As for the whole town's biggest employer? An out-of-town jewelry store owner joked that it was Raleigh.

Ironically, the group was standing before the soon-to-be storefront of Nancy Jo's Homemade Bakery, now open in Greensboro and Raleigh. It's coming to Clayton as a fudge and dessert shop in the next few weeks.

And true to Clayton form, the visitors ended the tour on a high note of local historic restoration.

As twilight settled upon Clayton, the moonlight emphasizing the topmost elements of Clayton's grander buildings, Naegelen's tour came to an end in front of HTR commercial Realty, an 1875 Victorian on O'Neil Street.

The house's owner and realtor broker Brack Wilson and his wife greeted the visitors and told them the story of how they restored the 142-year-old house and turned it into a contributing downtown business.

And as guests ascended the stairs at the Greek Revival, white mansion of the Wagner House on Main Street, lit up for Christmas - more likely a wedding - and partook of that now famous cheesecake, they seemed rather pleased with Clayton.

If anything, they certainly liked its food.