Tuesday, January 17, 2012

"The more downtown merchants and restaurateurs insist that customers need not walk past other storefronts, the less they benefit from each other’s customers."

Once again, kindly permit me to boost a comment to the marquee. Reader Dan Chandler posted the following in response to last evening's "What are 23 parking spaces worth?" I have only one observation: During the discussions of the past few days, we seem to see the emergence of differing theories of consumer behavior. Which are to be fluffed, and which to remain unfluffed?

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Go to any mall such as Oxmoor, St. Matthews or Green Tree. The stores with the highest foot traffic are those along the main corridor, furthest from the parking. Space by the mall entrances, closest to parking, attracts fewer shoppers. The whole point of a mall is that each store get cross traffic from other stores’ customers. Enclosed mall space commands higher rents than strip mall space because customers walk past stores they otherwise would not have considered visiting, but visit they do. If each mall store had its own parking spaces, there would be no cross traffic customers.


The same principle works downtown. The more downtown merchants and restaurateurs insist that customers need not walk past other storefronts, the less they benefit from each other’s customers. Most downtown businesses will benefit by thinking of themselves as part of a shopping and entertainment district instead of cluster of unrelated businesses whose customers never cross.


Cross traffic is highest when the walking experience is most enjoyable. Historically, the mall had an advantage; part of the walk was past attractive storefronts. Downtown, much of the walk was past weed filled lots and boarded up buildings. The more pleasant the walkway, the more cross traffic will walk there. Mall operators know the importance of continuous attractive storefronts. Most mall leases contain a “lights out” clause that basically terminates the lease if the tenant closes the store, even though they continue to pay rent. If it’s not a pleasing environment, all tenants are hurt by reduced cross traffic.


So no, easy parking and foot traffic are not inextricably linked. Downtown has seen a business boom in the last five years despite no new parking. I don’t think this is coincidence. If you want isolated stores, you can get that anywhere; if you want a district, downtown NA offers something not found anywhere else in metro Louisville. Customers don’t like walking past places that are dirty, unattractive, loud or dangerous. So merchants, instead of making each other’s customers walk past bare concrete lots to get to your storefront, make sure your neighbor’s customers have an enticing trail to your storefront. Attractive facades do this. Attractive landscaping does this. Safe sidewalks do this. And calm, slow, quiet, two-way streets do this. These make places customers enjoy on foot.

8 comments:

G Coyle said...

Let’s see, we recently had a home-grown terrorist (is it still legal to use that word?) on Pearl Street, armory et al. There are in fact some notorious slum/half-way house rentals downtown. There are also way too many cheap drunk bars. As long as property owners are allowed to let their urban buildings rot openly, it just leaves a stale taste in your mouth, no matter how many pink petunias you plant. A little grit can be attractive from an urban marketing perspective, but the downtown needs some code enforcement. I worry all the progress being made by merchants like you will be re-consumed by the rot. Parking, too much already, duh.

The New Albanian said...

The other thing that still surprises me is the lack of initiative on the part of building and business owners. Everyone waits for someone else to clean up -- simple sweeping, garbage removal and the like.

RememberCharlemagne said...

Creating an “entertainment district” and hoping for “cross traffic” won’t matter much if no one is coming to your business in the first place. Creating inconvenient hurdles for downtown customers will do more to drive those very customers away. Parking was one of the many reasons that drove people and then businesses away from downtowns in the first place. The parking lot in question is in a great location to accommodate the nearby businesses. It would be a mistake to change that. The park can be located in any of the many “actual” vacant lots and the parking lot can be re-designed in a way that adds additional aesthetic value to downtown.
No one is saying that we need downtown to look like the mall or that “mall parking” is the answer for N.A., but parking is a major factor. It is one reason why DNA circulates a flyer indicating where all the parking is located. It is the same question Louisville is having for continued 4th Street development. Creating strategic, small scale and aesthetically pleasing parking lots provides the necessary accommodations for both businesses and customers in downtown areas like New Albany’s.

And if the parking lot in question doesn’t help La Rosita or the River City Winery then restaurants like Roger's and Wicks would be better off turning their respective parking lots into parks as well.

Iamhoosier said...

The parking lot in question is approximately 1 1/2 blocks from BSB. It's demise will affect Roger, too.

I'm no spokesman for BSB but I do believe that their parking lot is being re-purposed, also.

Roger, you are an idiot. Don't you know that you are supposed to only look out for yourself. DWS (I know, not supposed to call people an idiot on here. I apologize)

Matt Nash said...

Those spaces were leased and haven't been public for some time. I am not sure what their status is now.

From what I can tell LaRosita and River City are/were doing fine without them.

Matt Nash said...

Of course where I come from the sun rises in the east and sets in the west.

Jeff Gillenwater said...

Interesting, too, is that River City Winery purchased a small section of the "bicentennial" lot in question closest to their building. Using it to provide additional "convenient" parking? Nope, expanded seating in a park-like setting.

And Roger has already turned former parking spots into a park-like setting, a trend that is continuing as we type.

The New Albanian said...

Matt, you really must accept the will of the people when it comes to the sunrise; they want it to rise in the west and set in the east, although I never specifically said anything about the relativity of directional sun passages, or anything like that, just that folks don't like to walk away from their cars to get some sunshine. Do you play golf?