For one business owner on St. Armands Circle, the past 35 years have had their ups and downs, but you could say Cleon Dixon is committed to this community.
She saw something special here and wanted to create something even more special.
It all started with a trip to Disney.
"When my girls were little, we used to go to Disney, and I realized that everybody just wanted to buy something in Disney. It was like they needed to buy something. And I thought, I want to create something where people want to come and they want to shop, they're excited about it. They don't just want to go and walk into a store. They really want an experience. So that's what I created, first with Aussie Limited, and then Ivory Coast, we sort of did an African sort of theme, and then Binjara Traders was more like a world market. I mean, we've evolved over the years," said Dixon.
The Australian native initially wanted to bring a piece of home to this community.
Today, she owns Ivory Coast, Sahara, and Binjara Traders.
You could say, she's the queen of pivoting. She's been through a lot on her 35 years on the Circle.
After a recent fire at Pinjara, she closed and reopened across the street as Sahara.
Her other stores also took on water from last year's storms.
There's no stopping Dixon. She's staying put.
"St. Armands is so unique. It's not just a place to come and shop, it's a place, a destination. Bring your family, bring your friends. Not only do we, of course, we're busy now because of spring break and tourists, but the locals also. They love to come out and have lunch, have dinner, have a wander, have a shop. The beach is just down the road. A lot of malls try to emulate us. They're building to sort of make them look like a village. This is a village."
It truly does take a village here in the Circle.
