At one time, Smithfield Street was a bustling, downtown hub; an epicenter for shopping and dining that was once home to giant department stores such as Macy’s and Kaufmann’s. But now, the street is unrecognizable from the Smithfield many Pittsburghers grew up with.
Because of the street’s reliance on business from white collar workers, students, and shoppers, the COVID-19 pandemic forced many of the businesses on the street to shut down.
Zorba’s Restaurant was one of the first storefronts to close after the lockdown began. The CVS pharmacy and the Smithfield deli soon followed.
And in the five years since the COVID-19 lockdown, the street hasn’t shown many signs of recovery, with many of the closed businesses remaining unoccupied, until recently.
Tandoori Tales and Box Flipz are two new stores calling Smithfield home.
Having opened in July, Tandoori Tales is a Chipotle-style, fast casual Indian restaurant. It offers unique takes on classic Indian dishes, like naan tacos.
Co-owner, Rohit Matre, said he loves the restaurant’s location and is not looking to move anytime soon.
“We want to stay here, and we are doing our part to make it better,” Matre said.
None of the restaurants downtown accept Point Park’s flex dollars, limiting student’s access to Pittsburgh’s culinary world. Despite that, Tandoori’s wants students to feel welcomed, even if their budget isn’t huge.
“It’s not always about the profit,” Matre said. “If you’re coming in a group, expect heavy discounts from us.”
Tandoori Tales isn’t the only new spot on Smithfield Street opening its doors to students: Box Flipz offers its own unique perks.
Located next door to Tandoori’s Tales, Box Flipz is a buy, sell, and trade store offering a range of items at shockingly low prices. It opened their doors in August of this year.
Similar to MAC.BID, their stock comes from Amazon returns, Overstock, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Target, and Walmart. They are currently in the process of adding Nordstrom Rack to that list.
On Mondays, all items in the store are $12. Each day, the cost decreases by two dollars; on Fridays you can get 2 items for $5.
“There was nothing like this Downtown,” Megan Bogle, co-owner of Box Flipz, said.
The closest buy/sell/trade store to Downtown is “Goods Unlimited” located in West Mifflin.
Stores offering a wide range of affordable items can be particularly useful for students — providing everything from toaster ovens to laptops — at a location that is within walking distance from Point Park’s campus.
The owners of Box Flipz recognize that catering to students has the potential to revitalize a street that has long struggled.
“After COVID, a lot of the small businesses died,” Jared Mathews, the other co-owner of Box Flipz, said. “What we’re trying to do is bring a new crowd Downtown.”
Mathews and Bogle hope that creating a unique shopping experience will draw new people to Smithfield.
“Our goal isn’t to hand-pick out expensive items,” Mathews said. “It is kind of like a treasure hunt.”
One particular treasure was a knife set, which Mathews recalled being purchased on a Monday and resold for $700.
As for the future of Smithfield Street, Mathews said, “They can either keep building it, or they could just let it go back to how it was when COVID was here.”
