Last week saw the opening party of Teddies for Bettys. Teddies has moved down to 2nd St from it’s former home on S 1st Street, where I first came across them. “Teddies” is a self described “upscale intimate apparel boutique where luxury is an everyday experience, not just a special occasion”.

The store has actually been open for a couple of months, and apart from an excuse to move amongst some exquisite underwear, I wanted a chance to catch-up with owner Ashely Kelsh and see how business was going. Ashley reports that trade has been good and made an interesting observation that I hadn’t considered. Many of us “in-towners” regularly visit the 2nd Street district in the evening, when traffic and parking are easier, but I rarely make it down from the distant confines of Round Rock, during the day.

I’m inclined to agree with Mike Dahmus aka M1EK when it comes to the workers in downtown, the “fruit doesn’t fall far from the tree”. Meaning, that because of the heat, travel and time, office workers don’t much venture out of their direct building vicinity. This is one reason Mike asserts that the redline doesn’t work, is that the station and the line terminate too far from the bulk of the offices people work out of and the buses don’t make up for it. So, like most, I’d assumed that overtime the 2nd Street business district would fail for the same reason, it’s just not close enough to the centre of the action.

Anyway, Ashley from Teddies for Bettys says that business has been brisk and that they get a lot of customers from the W hotel. Thinking about it. the W could indeed be the blessing in disguise for day time traffic for the 2nd street district. First it’s right there; second, when visiting a new town people generally will wander around the local streets; and third, when visiting a new city for business or pleasure, you are inclined to shop in stores that you might not normally visit. Add to that the new ACL live studios and maybe together these will drive enough new foot traffic for the 2nd Street district to thrive.