The old Schoolkids Records location on Franklin Street might host a new business soon.
If negotiations go smoothly the building could become home to a store for the Ackland Art Museum.
Nic Brown director of communications for the museum said the museum has been in negotiations for months to add a storefront on Franklin which would sell merchandise connected with museum exhibits.
UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp talked about the negotiations in a meeting Thursday with the Chapel Hill Friends of Downtown.
But Brown said nothing is finalized.
Schoolkids Records an independent record store closed in March of last year after more than 30 years of business on Franklin Street.
Since then the storefront has remained empty. The University owns the lease on the property.
The Ackland Art Museum originally considered placing the store in the Columbia Street museum" but Brown said they were drawn to the Franklin Street area because of its location.
""We have the rare benefit of having a lot of foot traffic"" Brown said.
If finalized, the store would sell merchandise related to museum exhibits and events.
For example, Curator Timothy Riggs collaborated on a book to complement the current Ackland exhibit, At the Heart of Progress: Coal"" Iron and Steam since 1750.""
But there is little space in the museum to share these supplementary materials with the public"" Brown said.
""Right now we don't have a great way to sell the book"" Brown said.
Brown said the exhibit would benefit from a store on Franklin because the book and related merchandise could be sold there.
Chloe Greene, co-owner of neighboring art gallery Toots & Magoo, said she and other businesses owners were excited about the prospect of more cultural venues.
She said Franklin Street's primary atmosphere shifted from one of a main street"" of smaller boutiques to a mall of larger chains during the past twenty years.
""A lot of locals that I talk to say that they don't come downtown anymore because there's nothing there for them anymore"" she said.
But she said that public interest in smaller businesses was increasing, and that she hoped the storefront would revitalize the downtown area.
You can never have enough art on Franklin Street.""
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
