Months ago, we told you about space for rent at 2101 Christian St., a very small storefront in a very handsome building that has been meticulously rehabbed over the past year. Originally, the owners of the property had intended to open a sandwich shop in the space, but other opportunities came calling, which resulted in an available corner commercial space on Christian Street.

The retail space

From a distance

In the last couple of weeks, the For Rent signs came down. And as you can see in the photo above, zoning notices were recently affixed to the property, clearly indicating that a tenant has been found. Who is it, you may ask?

Walnut Street

Closer look

American Mortals is a popular salon on the 700 block of Walnut Street that will soon be opening a little new location in the Graduate Hospital neighborhood. The new spot will apparently only have two or three chairs, and will only offer haircuts, due to the space constraints. With such a small space being offered, we were concerned that the storefront would remain vacant for quite some time, so it’s very encouraging to see that a new tenant will soon be coming in. While this use probably isn’t quite as exciting for neighbors as a sandwich spot or, say, an organic produce store, it’s still great to see another corner retail space get filled in this neighborhood.

Image of businesses in the neighborhood, from Michael Salove Co.

As you can see from this (somewhat incomplete) map of area businesses, American Mortals will add to the retail mix in the neighborhood. Though South Street West has boomed lately, there has not been the same momentum for businesses actually located within this neighborhood. Hopefully, the salon will be one more motivator for small business owners to choose this area over other, more saturated neighborhoods.