Mill Avenue businesses struggled even before the Great Recession. But one downtown Tempe strip is seeing so much traffic that the landowner swears it's on the verge of becoming the Valley's version of Times Square in New York.

Landowner Herzel "Joe" Nahom is on the verge of filling his row of kiosks on Sixth Street with outdoor seating that will serve Mill Avenue customers 24 hours a day. Four of the kiosks, Cuties, Chronic Tacos, Slices and Munchies Café, are already open.

Sixth Street is a happening spot, with Urban Outfitters, Hippy Gypsy and vendors selling tacos, pizza and hot dogs on the east end. On the west end, popular higher-end businesses like Z'Tejas, Robbie Fox's Public House, Canteen Modern Tequila Bar and Churchill's Fine Cigars draw crowds daily.

American Apparel on Sixth closed last month, but a sandwich shop is slated to open this month.

Businesses along the strip cite different reasons for their success.

Managers of Churchill's and Robbie Fox's, an Irish pub/restaurant, say they offer a sense of place and a quality product at an affordable price.

Anthony King, co-owner of Cuties, the hot dog stand, says the food vendors and Hippy Gypsy give downtown a gritty urban feel that appeals to those who enjoy the college-town atmosphere.

"I think people like that downtown Tempe is a place where a businessman in a suit and man who is homeless feel comfortable," King said.

"Sixth Street is going to be a mini-Times Square," Nahom said. "I'm telling you, until I die I am not going to rest until this corner is going to be open 24 hours a day like no other place in the state of Arizona - I guarantee that."

Nahom is the landowner for a stretch of retail space on the southeastern corner of Sixth Street and Mill. He has owned land in downtown Tempe since about 1987. He says he tires of hearing businesses complain that they can't survive on Mill. His only complaint is the run-down condition of the historic Hayden Flour Mill.

"Get that cleaned up and we'll be fine on Mill," he said.

Nahom said the key to a popular Mill business is having something unique to offer and staying true to the college market.

Nahom is waiting for his sandwich vendor to open. Once that's happened, he plans on pushing the vendors to stay open 24 hours a day on weekends.

"We're going to have Mexican food, Italian food, hot dogs, sandwiches, and you have 60,000 customers every day a few blocks away. . . . If they cannot be open 24 hours a day, who could?" he said.

Nahom is the landlord for Hippie Gypsy. The shop is often packed with high school and college students looking for funky clothes, lava lamps or tie-dye gear. Next door is Campus Corner, where Arizona State University fans young and old get their maroon-and-gold paraphernalia.

Happy Healthy High Horny Herbs, a relative newcomer, draws natural-medicine connoisseurs. And people wait in line on weekends to get into Zuma Grill and Mill Cue Club.

But Nahom's crown jewels are the food kiosks just east of Mill on Sixth Street.

The metal doors to the row of teeny shops roll down at the end of the day and up in the morning. Customers often say they like the stores' industrial appearance and outdoor seating because it gives the strip a big-city feel.

"The stores on that corner are doing phenomenal," he said.

The buzz on Sixth Street has spread to the west end, too.

On any given weekend night, Canteen Modern Tequila Bar's outdoor seating, which stretches onto Sixth Street's sidewalk, is packed. A couple of doors down, cigar enthusiasts chat about business on Churchill's patio.

"It's been tough for businesses, but we've got loyal customers. If those (apartment) towers are priced right, they will get filled. That's going to help all of Mill," said Churchill's manager Shannon Randle, referring to West Sixth,the soon-to-open apartments on the west end of Sixth Street.

Dominic Jones, a managing owner of Robbie Fox's, which opened last year on Sixth, said Mill Avenue is about to explode.

"We are about to expand for the third time since we opened. How about that?" he said, noting the banquet area the business added and the breakfast bar that Jones and his partners will soon open just east of Robbie Fox's.