Why So Many of Downtown Scottsboro's New Doors Opened on Laurel Street This Year

Between April and August, seven new businesses in downtown Scottsboro held ribbon cuttings or grand openings or were welcomed in Main Street's announcements, and five of them have a Laurel Street address. The other two are D Williams Performance Lab on South Market Street and The Beauty Suite on Willow Street. Everything else went onto one street, running from 230 W. Laurel to 710 E. Laurel.

So the square's center of gravity has quietly shifted. For a weeknight after work or a Saturday before the holiday trees go up, the best route downtown now runs the length of Laurel Street rather than around the courthouse.

Five of Seven, Counted by Address

Here is how the year added up on Laurel, in order of opening:

Two of the five share 710 E. Laurel. Two more sit four doors apart at 206 and 210 E. Laurel. The fifth anchors the west end. Together they cover both sides of the square, so Laurel works as one corridor rather than one edge of a block.

When Main Street Scottsboro welcomed its summer class of businesses, the organization wrote:

"Every new storefront, every dream pursued, and every business that chooses Downtown Scottsboro helps make our community even stronger."

This year, choosing downtown mostly meant choosing Laurel.

West Laurel Now Stays Open Late

The west end got the corridor's latest hours. According to the Jackson County Sentinel's coverage of its opening, The Vault on Laurel Cigar Bar is owned by Aimee Lambert and John Paul Lambert, who opened it at 230 W. Laurel St. after their Stevenson location did well. The Sentinel describes an upscale lounge with premium cigars, spirits and room for people to gather. It is open Tuesday and Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Thursday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

That 10 p.m. close on three nights a week matters on a street mostly made up of daytime shops. A few doors toward the square, Park & 35 Vintage Clothier at 209 W. Laurel St. sells vintage clothing for men, women and children. The Blue Mercantile, a discount furniture store, is next door at 207 W. Laurel St. Taken together, the 200 block of West Laurel now runs from afternoon shopping into a late evening, and before this year it didn't.

For dinner nearby, Warehouse 207 serves pizza and wings one street over at 207 W. Willow St., and Dominic's on the Square is a wine bar at 220 S. Broad St. Main Street's summer drinks roundup featured mojitos at Warehouse 207 and summer wine cocktails at Dominic's.

The Corner That Holds the 1908 View

Where Laurel meets the square, the street's oldest business makes the case that Laurel was always a main street. Payne's Soda Fountain at 101 E. Laurel St. is listed in Main Street's downtown directory as a sandwich and ice cream shop. The same summer drinks roundup singled out its handmade chocolate shake, made the old-fashioned way.

On the light pole out front is one of the plaques from downtown's permanent historic photo trail. It shows an 1892 photograph of the business and a 1908 view of Laurel Street. Main Street explains on its Explore page that the idea came from a 2018 workshop on placemaking. The weatherproof metal plaques were made with Sign-1-1, each one placed near where its photo was taken, and the project was paid for with event vendor fees and sales of downtown merchandise.

The order of the work matters too. Main Street's plan was to finish the Laurel Street side of the square first and then start on Market Street, with the goal of covering all four sides. So Laurel got its history marked before any other side of the square, and then it got most of the year's new owners. Anyone walking from The Vault toward East Laurel passes the 1908 version of the same street they are on.

East Laurel Picked Up the Studios

East of the square, the new businesses are quieter and more personal. Several run by appointment or are built around a single owner's craft.

Danielle Buchanan opened Madame Saint Sanctuary at 206 E. Laurel St. on July 6. Main Street describes it as a private tattoo studio offering a personalized, one-on-one experience.

Four doors down, at 210 E. Laurel St., Suite D, Main Street welcomed Kudzu Storycatchers Podcast Studio in July. Its hosts are Justin Newman and Melissa Ford Thornton. Main Street describes the studio as built around Southern storytelling and local history, with the line "One mic. Two hosts. A universe of stories." A podcast about local history opening a block from a photo trail of local history fits the street well.

Farther east, 710 E. Laurel St. had two openings in four months. Blair Lowery's Petals and Pages held its ribbon cutting on April 23, with her family beside her, according to the Sentinel's ribbon-cutting report. Its Mountain Lakes Chamber of Commerce listing describes hand-tied bouquets, floral subscriptions, a curated selection of books and gifts, and small gatherings like book clubs and workshops.

Then on Aug. 4, Kevin and Grace Dampier cut the ribbon on Scoops and Shaves at its new home, also 710 E. Laurel St. The Sentinel's photo caption lists family members, Chamber emissaries and Highland Ambassadors at the ceremony. A business that moves tends to pick its new spot carefully, and the Dampiers picked East Laurel.

The Walk, West to East

With the year's openings in mind, Laurel Street makes a single walk of seven addresses, with no backtracking:

1. The Vault on Laurel Cigar Bar, 230 W. Laurel St. Start here on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday, when it stays open until 10 p.m.
2. Park & 35 Vintage Clothier, 209 W. Laurel St. Vintage clothing for the whole family.
3. The Blue Mercantile, 207 W. Laurel St. Discount furniture next door.
4. Payne's Soda Fountain, 101 E. Laurel St. A chocolate shake, plus the 1892 and 1908 photographs on the plaque out front.
5. Madame Saint Sanctuary and Kudzu Storycatchers, 206 and 210 E. Laurel St. The two newest studios on the east side.
6. Petals and Pages and Scoops and Shaves, 710 E. Laurel St. Flowers, books and the Dampiers' new location at the far end.

For a sit-down meal before or after, Warehouse 207 on West Willow and Dominic's on the Square on South Broad are each a short walk from the corridor.

The Fall Calendar Runs Through the Same Blocks

Because the walk is short, it pairs easily with what's on downtown's late-fall calendar. Main Street Scottsboro lists these dates:

Halloween on the Square comes first, with trunk-or-treating and food trucks on the schedule. The Cruise-In adds a Mini People's Choice show at 4 p.m.

The Jingle Bell Trail ties the season to Laurel Street most directly. Main Street describes Christmas trees lining downtown's streets, each decorated by a local business, organization, school, church, family or community group. The trail is free and stays up from Nov. 28 through Jan. 1, 2027. This is the first holiday season for most of the businesses on the table above. Dec. 5 is the busiest day, with Jingle Bell Square in the morning and the trail's opening night at 5 p.m. A full day on Laurel could start with a shake at Payne's and end at The Vault, since that Saturday falls on one of its late nights.

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