By Amanda Raymond

amanda.raymond@salisburypost.com

Bellissima and Dead Ed’s are saying goodbye to downtown Salisbury, but other shops will be opening soon.

Bellissima, a bridal boutique on 100 W. Innes St., is moving to Winston-Salem after about five years in the downtown area. Monica Cameron, owner of the boutique, said a lot of her clientele were from the Piedmont Triad area, so once the opportunity presented itself, she said it made sense for her to move.

Paula Bohland, executive director of Downtown Salisbury, Inc., said another retail business will be moving into the space.

“We’ll be public with it very, very soon,” Bohland said.

Bohland could not share what the business was, but she did say it is an expansion of a business that is already local to the community.

She also said the business will be a draw for college students and other young people.

“They present a very nice product so that place will remain beautiful,” she said.

Dead Ed’s, an alternative clothing and accessories shop, is closing its storefront on 123 E. Innes St. at the end of this month, but is not closing for good. According to a Facebook post from Jan. 18, the store will be selling merchandise on its website and at conventions and shows.

Bohland said it made sense for them to do so.

“They do most of their business in the festival market anyways,” Bohland said.

The Facebook post also said customers could shop through the store’s Facebook page until the website is ready.

A business Bohland could name was The Smoke Pit Restaurant, a barbecue restaurant with a location in Concord. The restaurant is moving to 155 E. Innes St., the spot where Romo’s Pizzeria & Restaurant used to be until closing late last year.

It will be the Smoke Pit’s second location, and Bohland said they could be open within the next two months.

As far as the space Uncle Bucks All American Pub & Grub left back in December, Bohland said two different restaurant models are looking at it.

“There’s interest, but we don’t have anything that’s definitely planned that I know of,” she said.

Another restaurant coming into downtown will be Shuckin’ Shack Oyster Bar, a regional franchise restaurant. It will be in the Washington Building at 118 N. Main St.

According to a press release, the restaurant will offer fresh seafood dishes, many of them steamed instead of fried.

Bohland said it was a good sign that the restaurant actually chose to move into Salisbury because the Shuckin’ Shack evaluates all of its potential locations based on things like demographics and the number of people who visit the downtown shops.

“That was a good feedback piece for me because an actual franchise model did pretty thorough research,” she said.

And Morgan Ridge Vineyards decided to expand its brewery into Salisbury with the Morgan Ridge Brewery coming to 421 S. Lee St. Bohland said it will hopefully be open by this summer.

Although losing businesses is not ideal, Bohland said the positive side of it is that new businesses with new followings can make their way in.

Bohland said Salisbury’s downtown is healthy.

“We’re a healthy business environment,” she said. “As long as you have more businesses being born and more jobs coming than you have lost, that’s health.”

Contact reporter Amanda Raymond at 704-797-4222.