While the markers are new, the district\u2019s identity has been taking shape for decades.<\/p>\n
For years, Grand Central functioned largely as a working commercial corridor lined with antique stores, industrial suppliers, auto shops, and neighborhood-serving businesses.<\/p>\n
Buildings now occupied by cafes, bars, boutiques, and coffee shops once housed upholstery shops, paint stores, furniture stores, mechanics, and small offices.<\/p>\n
For instance, a little over a decade ago, the corner of 27th Street and Central Avenue looked very different. <\/p>\n
Where Bandit Coffee<\/a> now draws lines out the door, there was once a Porter Paint store. <\/p>\n Casita Taqueria<\/a> opened in a former car wash on the northeast corner, while Baba<\/a> now serves dinner out of a building that once housed a mechanic shop on the northwest corner.<\/p>\n Slim Charmer<\/a> and Wild Child<\/a> took over a small office and retail building on the west side of 27th Street.<\/p>\n Legacy businesses like Acme Air Conditioning, Goodyear Rubber Products, Herbach\u2019s Rattan Furniture, and Johnson\u2019s Upholstering were once fixtures along the corridor before new owners repurposed the buildings into retail, restaurant, and hospitality concepts.<\/p>\n