RADFORD, Va. – If you take a drive through Radford, you may notice some improvements to Radford’s Main Street.
“We have been looking at this for the past couple of years,” said Kim Repass, director of economic development for the City of Radford.
As part of a revitalization effort, leaders in the City of Radford have been working to revive their downtown.
“You see with the revitalization of one business creates additional businesses to make that change, to make that addition,” Repass said.
On the west end of the city, they have already made tons of progress.
“You’re looking at places like Brick House Pizza, the triangle plaza that we took an old gas station and revitalized that into a nice little pocket park, and you are seeing all these new businesses pop up all around it,” Repass said.
On the east side, while there is still work to be done, there are plenty of businesses.
To learn about how the efforts are helping businesses I talked to Meg Weddle with Meg’s and Garrett’s in downtown Radford.
She said she has been in Radford for over 35 years and seen the different variations of the city.
“When I first came to the street, gosh here in 1982, there was Leggett across the street, there was a hardware store, there was a furniture store, and now it is definitely different than that, more restaurants,” Weddle said.
She said with the focus across town to support businesses, she’s optimistic about the future.
“I would like to see more of an emphasis placed on making Radford more of a retail hub,” said Weddle. “I think there are people out there with small businesses that could make us a better retail hub.”
I also talked to a man who grew up in Radford and was out holiday shopping for the day. He said he loves small businesses and is happy the city wants to support them.
“It’s great seeing what all the city has been doing, trying to revitalize, trying to bring back new businesses and different cultural events and stuff like that so it is always great to see,” said Garrett Channell.
Repass said while they have accomplished lots, there is still plenty to do.