Gill Holland

On an unseasonably warm winter afternoon, Gill Holland paused at the corner of East Market and South Shelby streets, just outside an eco-themed boutique called Peace of the Earth.

He gazed across Market  to a set of century-old buildings that, less than five years ago, were slated to be demolished for a new homeless shelter. Now they’re home to a coffee shop that also sells vinyl records (Please & Thank You),  a store for environmentally friendly building supplies (Bluegrass Green) and, coming soon, the quirky local gift shop WHY Louisville.

“There’s a lot of people walking around — I am always amazed,” Holland said of the four-block stretch of East Market, which he dubbed NuLu after championing the effort to revive the area. “Five years ago, people would go to Muth’s (Candies), people would go to Joe Ley’s (Antiques). You would get the hearty souls coming out for a couple of galleries.”

Chris Otts, The Courier-Journal | Read Full Story