Downtown Macon is looking a bit more chic today. On Tuesday Love Jones Couture celebrated a grand opening on Mulberry Street. The shop is filled with trendy pieces of jewelry, shoes and purses.

Mechel McKinley is manager of Main Street Macon, a downtown development program. She says this upscale boutique is just one of many new businesses popping up in Macon. “I keep a project list of people who have contacted me for downtown and right now I have over 20 businesses that are in some stages of opening downtown and not all of them will come to fruition and that’s fine, but it’s exciting to have that many that I’m working with.”

McKinley says an economic turnaround has people feeling more comfortable with taking risks. She also attributes the growth to a desire by many to return to more walkable communities in town, versus the suburbs.

Tags: downtown Macon, Leah Fleming