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Thursday, June 24, 2010

Consultant tells Chestnut Hill how to improve merchant mix

Retail areas are buffeted by cycles just like economies.

The difference is that sometimes when a retail center sinks, it doesn’t rise again.

For Chestnut Hill, the most recent recession exposed weakness along its Germantown Avenue shopping area. Last summer, promoters of the affluent Northwest Philadelphia neighborhood could no longer ignore the “For Rent” signs on the avenue.

Several apparel stores, restaurants and retailers had either closed or left. Some spaces were refilled, but not with shops or eateries.

And Chestnut Hill, never entirely comfortable with the influx of chain stores that accelerated in the 1990s, began to see even some of those merchants leave. In January, the Borders bookstore closed after 15 years in business.

“These are some tough times that Main Streets are going through,” said Fran O’Donnell, Main Street manager of the Chestnut Hill Business Association.

Still, a little perspective is in order: Chestnut Hill may not be a destination for Tiffany’s, but it’s not a candidate for a Family Dollar either.

It may have taken awhile for members of the business and community organizations to agree that what worked in retail in 1964 may not be what works in 2014. But, O’Donnell said, property owners, residents and merchants are united now.

So last fall, his group and the Chestnut Hill Community Association and several other local groups hired Downtown Works, a retail consulting firm based in Washington, D.C. They raised $75,000 to have the firm take stock of the assets and liabilities of the business core and offer a strategy to improve it.

What did Downtown Works find from its interviews with “stakeholders” and on its walk-arounds? According to its report released Wednesday, too many banks, not enough restaurants, and a mix of stores that is not enticing to shoppers.

During the winter, the firm counted 175 business spaces on Germantown Avenue between Rex Avenue and Mermaid Lane. Thirteen percent of that space is now vacant. Retailers fill 43 percent of the space, while bars and restaurants account for 15 percent. Offices and religious institutions occupy 22 percent of the space, while service businesses work in 7 percent.

Downtown Works liked the Avenue’s wide sidewalks and “charming” building stock, but didn’t like seeing Christmas decorations still up in mid-January and signs that warn “cash only” or “no strollers.”

It also evaluated retailers on facade, signs, exterior maintenance, window displays and interior merchandising. Facades were Chestnut Hill’s strong point; window displays its weakness.

Reports are nice, but if no one acts on them, they just turn yellow sitting next to that cash register that’s not ringing quite as often.

So the Chestnut Hill Business Improvement District hired Eileen Reilly as its retail recruiter. She’s in charge of trying to improve the merchandise mix. She’ll act as a matchmaker between landlords and tenant prospects, O’Donnell said.

And five years from now. if she’s successful, few will remember that Borders once sold books on the Avenue.
Posted by Mike Armstrong @ 7:33 AM  Permalink | 1 comment
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About Mike Armstrong
Mike Armstrong, a business editor and writer for nearly two decades, is the Inquirer's business columnist and PhillyInc blog editor. Contact Mike via e-mail or at 215-854-2980
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