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Local retailers discuss co-existence with newcomers on South Congress
Change is inevitable, but expensive.
Walking down South Congress Avenue in 2024 looks a little different than it did in 2004.
It’s no secret that as Austin’s population continues to grow, more and more large retailers are moving in.
Recently, more major luxury brands have started to call South Congress (SoCo) home. Hermès opened a store in 2022 and French luxury brand Sézane — worn by British royalty — opened a pop-up store this month. Birkenstock and high-end bootmaker Lucchese are also set to join the list of the street's big retailers.
But all this change in the last several years has forced some classics out of their spots. On, a Swiss sportswear brand, pushed the eclectic costume store Lucy in Disguise out of SoCo last year. Just a few months ago, local boutique Maya Star also lost its place.
A born and raised Austinite and self-described “unicorn” who’s been in town since 1981, George Vance McGee says South Congress Avenue used to have a different feel in the past.
“It was a little more hokey and intimate and kind of small town-ish,” McGee said.
But McGee says he welcomes the new changes.
“As long as the independent businesses and the live music venues can keep afloat and prices don’t get too gnarly, you know, change is welcomed,” McGee said.
Further down South Congress Avenue, a letterpress design studio called Letterpress PLAY, says this mix between locals and tourists is what first brought the company to SoCo.
“The whole street is so, it’s so Austin culture and Austin tourist,” said Grace Lee, the assistant manager at Letterpress PLAY. “It was the perfect destination to start out.”
Lee, a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, has lived in the city for the past several years and has also seen the evolution of the area.
“I've seen so much change in terms of not even just on the outside, just the amount of people I see walking the streets,” Lee said.
But the population growth for Lee has been a positive thing.
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