Photo by Kelly Glueck

I think 2015 was a tough year for brick in mortar establishments in the St. Louis area. Unfortunately, we received a lot of terrible weather last year which has kept customers indoors. With the torrential downpours last summer and flooding during the winter, it just seemed that Mother Nature was not on our side.



It's always tough seeing a business close in your neighborhood, especially a great place like Smoothie King that has been in The Loop for so many years. But whenever one shop closes, another entrepreneur is given the chance to start their business, launch their dream. It's exciting to see a new business, like Doughocracy, open up in University City. And just think, they never would have had the opportunity to start their business in The Loop if a space did not become available.



We have some great new businesses coming to The Loop in 2016 that will be announced in the upcoming weeks and we are very excited that they have chosen the Delmar Loop as their new home. The majority of the Loop Trolley construction is now completed in The Loop and I know The Loop business owners are all looking forward to the grand opening of the Loop Trolley in the fall of 2016.



The Loop is open for business, but Smoothie King is not.In the same week that Saint Louis Bread Co. pulled out of the Delmar Loop , another longtime eatery, the Smoothie King at 6600 Delmar, quietly closed its doors.The smoothie shop had been a Loop mainstay, serving tourists and college kids alike a wide array of fruit blends, as well as selling nutritional supplements.The franchise is at least the third eatery to close its doors since construction began on a new $51 million trolley line through the Loop last March. Al Forno E was shuttered last fall, blaming the invasive roadwork for choking its supply of customers. ( Good Works Furniture Co. closed even before construction began , but it also cited the trolley as its catalyst for pulling out.)Major construction on the trolley line ceased in early November , though some areas once pronounced finished are apparently being retooled — and one final major push will see Skinker close briefly at Delmar for around-the-clock roadwork.Jessica Bueler, director of marketing for the Delmar Loop and owner of HSB Tobacconist, says things are looking up, writing in an email,