It’s clear that South Street West has experienced a tremendous rebirth in recent years, with a plethora of new businesses appearing on the corridor. Much of the momentum, however, has been limited to the stretches of South Street that have a critical mass of businesses, leaving some other blocks lagging behind. While the 1500 block has seen perhaps ten new stores open their doors in recent years, change has come much more slowly to, say, the 1900 block.

It’s on this block, at 1906 South St., that Neighborhood Books, a new used book store, appeared on the scene just a couple of weeks ago. We stopped into the store for a minute and discovered a nice open space full of reasonably priced old books. (Editor’s note: Books are those things in your Kindle, but on paper). The most recent business to open on this block, from what we can remember, was Spool, perhaps five years ago.

New store

Pretty much next door to Loop and the since-closed Spool

Meanwhile, half a block away, a revolving door commercial space has reemerged as yet another concept. According to Foobooz, the former master sushi chef from Raw has taken over 1824 South St., longtime home of Pinky’s and most recently home to Umai Cafe. We stuck our head in Kidari Sushi, and discovered that the space has been classed up somewhat from its previous incarnations, but still retains a few signs of the diner than made its home here for years. Hopefully, this new byo will have a similar run, unlike the previous three businesses that have run through here.

New sign too. Meanwhile, Randazzo's keeps on keepin' on

Keep up the good work, South Street West!