FLORISSANT, Mo. — In North St. Louis County, business is booming, restaurants are packed, and shopping centers are filling up.
Empty lots for new businesses are becoming more challenging to find in Florissant.
In 2023 alone, more than 130 new businesses opened. This is excellent news for residents and businesses that have been around for a while, including Missouri's only black-owned bowling alley in the heart of Florissant.
From the outside, Olympic Lanes might look like any other bowling alley. Once you're inside, you can feel its uniqueness, which many residents call a hidden gem.
"One of the things that feels good about owning this bowling alley is because we're the first to do it. There has never been a black-owned bowling alley," Olympic Lanes owner Carlos Hornberger said. He said it's a first for Missouri.
The 12-lane bowling alley on New Halls Ferry Road has been around for over 20 years. Carlos Hornberger and his business partner took over about three years ago.
"Bowling is my passion. I enjoy owning the business because the people I used to bowl with now look up to me. They're proud of what we've done, and they show much, much, much support," Hornberger said.
Once a month, the owners of Olympic Lanes give free birthday parties to kids for parents who want to throw a party for their child but can't afford one.
On Saturdays, they provide food and bring in four trained coaches to teach children how to bowl, all free of charge.
Hornberger says their family-friendly atmosphere and giving back to the youth is what Olympic Lanes is all about and what sets them apart from any other bowling alley.
"It feels good to be here in Florissant. We have one of the best family atmospheres there is. We get a lot of people that come and say, 'We come to support the black-owned bowling alley,' so we appreciate it. Our goal is to keep progressing," said Hornberger.
Since 2021, nearly 400 new businesses have opened up shop in Florissant.
"The majority of our major shopping centers are over 90% full now, and a few are actually 100% full," Florissant Mayor Timothy Lowery said.
Places like Bath and Body Works and Sugarfire Smokehouse have filled vacancies this year, bringing jobs, shoppers, and barbecue lovers into town.
When Sugarfire Smokehouse opened at the beginning of January, it became the chain's first women-owned and operated location.
"It's been a line out the door at least once a day, every day. I think the whole community has done a good job of making it welcoming. I've never been more welcomed at any restaurant I've ever worked at," said Kat Wallace, corporate chef and co-owner of Sugarfire Smokehouse in Florissant.
"We've always done well with our commercial and retail. But I think we're really just seeing a boom right now of new businesses moving in, and vacancies are hard to find, where maybe five years ago it wasn't as difficult, so that's a great problem to have," said Lowery.
The current lack of business space isn't going to slow Florissant down, according to Lowery.
"Even though we might be lacking space, we're still not done. We want to keep bringing more and more businesses in, and we'll deal with the problem of needing more space to try to put these places. We just want the businesses to keep coming. Our residents are excited. Certainly, our business community is excited about it. I think that Florissant going forward is definitely looking up, and I think we're going to have some good days ahead," Lowery said.
Lowery also said keeping residents shopping and eating local is important.
Business owners that 5 On Your Side spoke with say they can already tell that's happening by how much business they're getting.