I found this recently when reading the Hutch news. Sounds like we aren't the only ones having trouble down town. FYI

Downtown debate deepens

Expensive remodeling of area heightens talk about convenience of store hours.

By Dave Stephens - The Hutchinson News - dstephens@hutchnews.com

The new seats outside Allie's Deli and Coffee Shoppe, like the parking spots in front of it, are empty.

All along Main Street, shop owners have flipped around their welcome signs, invoking a singular message to all who come shopping for their wares: "Closed."

It's 6 p.m. on Main Street, and in the core of the downtown district, two things are painfully clear: A lot of sweat, materials and money have gone into making downtown a friendly destination for shoppers. And, there's almost no one here.

In a seven-block stretch of Main Street, from Fifth Avenue to Avenue C, a survey of store hours reveals that only 11 businesses - out of more than 90 - are regularly open later than 6 p.m.

Of those businesses, three are restaurants, one is a private bar, two are exercise facilities, three are stores and two are salons. By 9 p.m., everything but the 24-hour gym, the bar and one of the restaurants will be closed.

Across town, along east 17th Avenue, the storefronts still gleam like new money.

Starbucks brews coffee until 10 p.m. Applebee's will continue seating customers until 11 p.m. Wal-Mart will stay open, non-stop, until Christmas Day.

But back on Main Street, the stoplights will soon turn off their red, green, yellow cadence and start to blink a constant yellow, warning motorists to slow down; there's no point in stopping.

A whole new street

In the past three years, the city of Hutchinson has pumped more than $4 million - a mix of local, state and federal dollars - into redeveloping the downtown district.

Streets have been repaved. Benches, tables and new lampposts have been installed. Flower pots, with meticulously cared for gardens, dot the downtown district with splashes of color.

Already, even with work not quite completed, growth has taken hold. New businesses have sprung up in vacant window fronts. Investors are renovating buildings. There's a sense of change in the air.

But still, not everyone is happy.

Jim Seitnater, director of the Downtown Development Program, said there have often been consumer complaints about downtown businesses not being open during the evening. Downtown shop owners, however, have a similar complaint - they'd keep their shops open later, but there's no one downtown at night.

But this circular argument - which Seitnater likens to the chicken-before-the-egg debate - is about to get some new ammunition.

Shifting dynamics

The city's downtown staff is in the process of analyzing results from a survey of downtown patrons. Seitnater said it's clear many people share a similar argument - downtown businesses don't operate during hours convenient to shoppers' schedules.

"There's been a shift in retail over the past 25 years toward longer hours and more convenience," Seitnater said. "In a lot of families, both parents are working, there are a lot of activities going on, people are looking for more instantaneous experiences that fit with their schedule."

That dynamic can be seen in Hutchinson's newer shopping districts like east 17th Street and 30th Avenue, where corporate stores like Hastings or Target operate longer hours and offer wider selections of merchandise than any downtown competitors.

Downtown store owner Karla Karam, who sells silk flower arrangements by day at Uniquely Yours, says she understands how a lot of shoppers operate - work all day, go home and eat supper, then, if compelled, go out and run errands - because she does the same thing.

But Karam believes opening her store - which she shares with the Kansas Depot toy store - at night, would cause more hardship and provide little increase in revenue.

"Everyone down here is a family business," Karam said. "We wanted to own our own businesses so we didn't have to have those kind of hours and demands."

Daylight Destination

Frank Sloyer, the owner of Frank's Frames, a downtown picture-framing store, said he'd like to see the business district improve, but evening hours aren't the answer - at least not for his business.

"I'm more of a destination store," Sloyer said. "I usually don't have people just stop by; if they come to me, they're planning to come to me, and they'll find the time during the day to come in."

With so many highly specialized downtown stores - cabinet shops, tile stores, printing and repair offices - Sloyer said window-shopping is limited. What the area needs, he said, is a wide variety of stores and, in some cases, a younger generation of shop owners.

"At my type of shop, I'm the one and only person working," Sloyer said. "At my age, it's difficult to spend a lot of hours open."

Down the street at the Renaissance Shoppe, store owners Ben Jordan and India "Frost" Maguire say they'd like to see the number of window-shoppers - and the overall traffic of customers - increase downtown, but they didn't see the need for a new variety of shops, just more willingness to work together.

"If it was beneficial to be here later, we'd be here," Maguire said. "But when you're the only store open, it's not going to change that much."

The Renaissance Shoppe - which sells medieval-style jewelry, clothing and weapons - is already open 4 to 8 p.m. on Mondays, but the amount of retail traffic into the store has grown slowly.

"We were open for two months before someone came in between 4 and 8," Maguire said. "So for people to say that being open later won't work - they've got to give it time."

Even though his store is open until 8:30 p.m. on Mondays and Thursday, Sport Shack owner Dick Strano doesn't think evening hours are the answer for downtown businesses.

"Sometimes we're busy, sometimes we're not," Strano said. "In our businesses, it's pretty seasonal."

The same comments came from Main Street Menswear owner Bill Long, who added that each downtown store seems to have a core group of customers. Expanding that group will require expansion of downtown's shopping options.

"There's really a need for a women's clothing store downtown," Long said. "If I had the money, I'd probably open one."

Drawing a crowd

For downtown businesses to grow - whether during daylight or evening hours - development director Seitnater said the key is finding ways to attract shoppers to the downtown district.

Last spring, a benefit beer-tasting event drew large crowds downtown on a Friday night - something that hadn't happened downtown in several years. This fall, downtown will host its annual chili fest - a Saturday event that brings crowds back to Main Street and into stores.

Downtown business owners, however, wonder what else can be done. Some mentioned having one night a week when a majority of stores stayed open. Others talked about opening venues - a coffee shop or a chain clothing store like Old Navy - that could get younger shoppers to visit downtown.

Some businesses, looking to supplement their income, are relying on customers outside Hutchinson to help keep afloat.

The Renaissance Shop staff goes on the road to sell its wares at festivals across the Midwest. The Kansas Depot takes its extensive collection of Thomas the Tank Engine toys to collectors events nationwide. Uniquely Yours is selling its arrangements on e-Bay.

Ultimately, Seitnater said, it's up to the individual downtown businesses to decide their fate. They can adapt, or they can stay the same. They can grow, or they can die.

"This has been a topic of discussion forever," Seitnater said. "What would be the right hours? There really isn't one good answer to that; it's something each business has to decide for itself."