Some small businesses are surviving the COVID 19 pandemic thanks to the vital support from the community. But it’s also taken some creativity and determination from the owners.
In 2006, Mercer Street in Princeton was not a place you wanted to take children. It’s the ‘old downtown’ or ‘Main Street’ of the city. West Virginians have seen the story over and over again. And visitors found boarded up storefronts and dilapidated buildings, remnants of a bustling and more prosperous time.
But in the last 15 years, 1,433 new businesses have opened in Mercer County, according to the Secretary of State’s website. The majority of those businesses were based in Princeton.
“It's definitely been a fun process to enjoy,” said small business co-owner Holley Odle. ‘When I was in high school -- I graduated from Princeton -- this street was a very unsavory place to be. A lot of trouble, a lot of things that, you know, we've pushed out of here.”
Check out the entire story here from WV Public Broadcasting