By
Bob Phibbs
A great downtown has a thriving independent retailer community working at the top of its game. New businesses open and add to the mix of merchants who fight for every shopper in a dynamic city core.
When that stops, storefronts sit vacant.
And while retail traffic in downtown areas across the U.S. continued to see improvements in March of 2022, many still aren't above 2019 levels.
The pandemic accelerated a lot of shop closings. And that's a problem because when shoppers see fewer viable businesses on the street, they venture onto that street less and less.
As shoppers vote with their feet, it costs other merchants business and decreases retail sales taxes collected; entire neighborhoods can deteriorate into urban blight.
Stores go vacant for years, no longer months.
It’s a big problem.
But should landlords be penalized because merchants don’t want to open downtown? The former NYC mayor thought enough to consider legislation.
Let’s face it, it is easy to complain about city councils that don’t do anything about parking, infrastructure, or a million other things. But why do merchants think politicians should act before they themselves do?
Downtown merchants first have to reinvigorate their stores.
They have to prove they are in business for the long haul and show their city councils they are serious about fighting for customers.
Yes, everyone wants convenience, and with additional online delivery companies taking up space – it is easy to scream at the city – we need more parking!
Yet some retailers allow their employees to park in front of their businesses, which robs easy-access parking for their shoppers. This became clear when I saw a story on the local news about a shop owner complaining there was no street parking on Main Street. I just happened to see her...and her employees all parking near her store on Main Street.
And that isn’t her local politicians’, her local business improvement association’s, or her Chamber of Commerce’s fault - it is hers, and all the other merchants are doing what is convenient, not what is prudent.
You can always wash your windows, pick up the trash in front of your store and those on either side and clean your sidewalks.
3 Steps to Bring Your Downtown Retail Shopping Area Back to Life:
1. Help yourself
When was the last time you took everything out of your store and deep cleaned the carpets and flooring, scrubbed the walls and repainted, replaced yellowing light fixtures and ceiling panels, installed more lighting, replaced old fixtures, cleared out the junk, started fresh? I’ll bet never.
After cleaning everything inside, ask yourself, when was the last time you looked at your store from the outside, spruced up the paint, created exciting window displays, and fixed your exterior lighting? Do it. How is your technology? Do you have a cloud-based POS system with modern reporting functions? You must. Once you renew the physical store, evaluate your employees and how customer-focused they are. Provide retail sales training to create an exceptional customer experience.
Next, update your website with pictures, videos, helpful articles, and directions to your store - the works. Then, look at the marketing of your business with direct mail, social media, and promotions. Do not decide you don’t need a mailing list, email list, and energetic social media presence - you do.
Finally, start or revamp your online store. No, not to the scale of Amazon, but your shoppers should be able to shop from you any time they want and be able to pick it up the next day. You must update your business so that when your Chamber of Commerce or Downtown Association offers workshops, you can participate and grow your retail sales.
2. Band together
Meet and brainstorm why shoppers may not care to come downtown to shop – and leave Amazon and online competitors out of it. That’s a loser’s limp, and you can’t do anything about it, but you can control many things.
Are your stores closing at 5 pm; are they closed Sundays; is there no convenient parking; is it hard to find help in stores; is the street filled with dingy windows? You get the idea. Get those at the meeting to commit to cleaning up their stores first... as I described above in number one.
After you have your game plan, encourage those who want to change to go out and buy a half whisky barrel, fill it full of planting mix and colorful annuals like petunias, put it in front of their store, and take care of that one planter. That colorful planter becomes a visible signal to the rest of the merchants that you take your business seriously. Track your sales and conversion increases and continue to build your merchant community.
When enough retailers get the message, it will be obvious to your local city officials that something is happening, and they’ll want to support you…instead of being told they have to support you.
3. Approach local politicians, state officials, and granting agencies
Tell them what you want: a renewed focus on the city center, new parking, more restaurants, a tax on landlords who are sabotaging your efforts to make downtown a vital retail shopping district, a façade improvement program, a branded entertainment district, or even retail sales training for all the merchants.
Cities and counties are stretched to the max with declining revenues and growing infrastructure and pension obligations; they aren’t looking for ways to spend but save. But when they see your businesses are looking for a hand after doing the hard work on their stores and building a coalition of other stores, they’ll know you aren’t just coming to them with problems and looking for a handout.
A lot of downtowns now offer some type of a once-a-month stroll and savor event to get people to discover downtown. Putting on such an event is relatively easy, but don’t just throw a party.
Don’t fill your street with food trucks from outside your shopping area or booths that showcase merchants outside your area. Those do nothing to entice return visits, and your whole event devolves into an excuse to pat yourselves on the back and say you did everything possible.
You need to ensure your stroll and savor focus is on your businesses so your attendees convert to paying customers and return on other days.
In Sum
Such projects require cooperation, whether it is a big city or small downtown revitalization. I’m always surprised by the anger directed at economic development corporations, Chambers of Commerce, and the like from a few merchants who are oblivious to what they need to do to contribute to creating a great downtown shopping area.
Those merchants demand the city do something to help them, expecting changes outside before they have to change inside.
It’s like saying to your fan, "Give me a breeze, and I'll plug you in."
Things don’t work that way.
You’re in the same boat with your community. You can’t take shoppers for granted. It takes everyone pulling in the same direction to get somewhere.
And that starts with you.
SalesRX online retail sales training is available 24/7, 365 days a year, for retailers looking to gain an advantage against their online competitors. Find out more here.
