ROANOKE, Va. – Keith Clinton, co-owner of R.T. Smith’s Deli, has owned his downtown deli with his wife for 15 years. Over that time, he has witnessed many changes in the downtown business scene.
“So there’s a lot of habitually empty storefronts,” Clinton said.
Longtime businesses are retiring and leaving the market, he explained. “The long-term businesses, they’re all retiring, they’re getting out of the game. That’s what a lot of this is from, there’s just no value for somebody coming in to take over a pre-existing business and try to run that because it’s not working anymore.”…