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Friday, Oct. 02, 2009

Let’s hear it for the SoChi life

Seven years ago, Terrell Sandefur and his wife, Kim, wanted to simplify their lives, save their sanity and do something for the welfare of their 3-year-old twins.

They made the decision to move out of Atlanta.

While they were in agreement on the need for a change of scenery, they were far apart on their choices of where to land.

Their two hometowns made the short list: Macon and Washington, D.C.

Either way, you get cherry trees.

But their preferences were not what you might have expected.

Kim, who comes from a well-connected family in Washington, wanted to move to Macon, a place she had only visited only a few times.

Terrell, meanwhile, was excited about the prospects of moving to the nation’s capital. He and Kim were married at Georgetown University in 1997 in a wedding attended by members of the Kennedy family.

He had no real desire to move back to Macon. His family had come here in 1971, when his father became the first AFLAC agent in town. Terrell hadn’t called Macon home since he graduated from Central High School in 1982, the first year of the Cherry Blossom Festival.

Terrell lost the tug-of-war and agreed to return to Macon. Although he was reluctant, he figured he might eventually get his wish.

“I didn’t think we would last six weeks,’’ he said.

Then, while looking for a house, something happened that changed his course.

A real estate agent took them to see homes in several north Macon neighborhoods, near prestigious schools and country clubs. They looked at houses far beyond the city limits, where there was plenty of room to roam.

Terrell wasn’t happy with the prospects of being so far out in the ’burbs. “I’m a city boy,’’ he told the real-estate agent. “No sticks. No ticks.”

When he asked to see some homes in downtown and midtown, the agent said something he will never forget.

“Oh, you want to stay north of Chi-Chester’s,’’ she said, referring to the landmark pharmacy on Vineville Avenue. “Nothing good ever happens south of Chi-Chester’s.’’

For the record, the Sandefurs ended up buying a home about a mile south of ChiChester’s.

Good things have been happening ever since.

But that statement — nothing good ever happens south of ChiChester’s — stuck in his ears like the annoying drip of a leaky faucet.

One day when he was out running, he had a brilliant idea. Terrell, who runs a marketing and public relations company, came up with the name “SoChi.”

SoChi (pronounced Soh-shee) was short for “south of ChiChester’s.’’

At first, the defined boundaries of SoChi were loose — starting at the ChiChester’s at 3051 Vineville, of course, then sweeping south through midtown, pushing through downtown and hitting the brakes somewhere around Central City Park.

East and west? “Shirley Hills is in EaChi, and the Macon Mall is in WeChi,’’ he said, laughing.

He purchased the old Yellow Cab building downtown and additional space next door in the 500 block of Second Street and went to work.

One year ago this month, he opened the SoChi Gallery. He markets it as a “multipurpose event and exhibition space in the heart of Macon’s emerging arts and cultural center.’’

He renamed his business the SoChi Companies. His event planning, marketing and promotions operation is known as SoChi Services.

But it became more than just a brand. It became a geographical area. Soon, folks were talking about heading down to SoChi, like they might be going to SoHo in New York.

It became an attitude, a way of life. He gave it an identity. He created a buzz.

Several people began calling themselves “SoChilites.” Terrell even started a monthly radio program on WIBB called “SoChilizing.”

Sure, it’s hip. “But there’s nothing snobby about it,’’ said Terrell.

What’s wrong with hip, anyway? SoChi was an area that needed to pop its hip bone back in the socket. Let’s go eat sushi at SoChi.

A few weeks ago, he was having coffee with a friend. A man at a nearby table overheard the word “SoChi.”

“Do y’all know about SoChi?” he asked them.

The man said he and his family had recently moved to Macon from North Carolina. When Terrell was introduced as the guy who “invented SoChi,’’ the man was so impressed he couldn’t stop talking about all the “culture” he had found in his new city.

“It was like I was a rock star,’’ Terrell said, laughing.

He knows, in retrospect, that the real estate agent probably did him a favor in helping him open doors and tear down walls.

Who knows? Maybe that’s what it took to awaken a sleeping giant.

Don’t just see the change. Be the change.

Reach Gris at 744-4275 or gris@macon.com.