The Times covers how indie shops in Austin helped develop SoCo and now are being edged out by Hermès and Lululemon.
Excerpt:
“The story is always the same,” said Mr. Hodge, who owns the Big Top Candy Shop and Monkey See Monkey Do novelty shop. “The scrappy locals go into a run-down area, they take it over, they rebuild it into a destination area that’s attractive.”
But the quirky ambience on the grand avenue doesn’t last long, he added: “It becomes the target for developers with big money.”