February 24, 2005

Reversing business decline focus of Chamber meeting

By Diane Chiddister

Almost 40 business people met Tuesday morning to brainstorm ways to turn around a decline in business downtown, during a gathering at Peach’s Grill that was sponsored by the Yellow Springs Chamber of Commerce.

Overall, those attending agreed, the Chamber needs to enhance its public relations efforts to attract more visitors to downtown Yellow Springs.

The purpose of the meeting was to consider “things we can do to help downtown now,” including establishing several immediate action items, said the chamber’s interim president, Don Hollister.

The merchants got together less than two weeks after some downtown business owners presented the Chamber of Commerce with a petition asking the Chamber to proactively promote local business.

All who attended Tuesday’s meeting also seemed to agree that downtown businesses have experienced a decrease in sales. For instance, many raised their hands when asked if business had declined 10 percent in the past several years, and more raised hands when asked if the loss was 20 percent or more. Several indicated that their business had declined more than 50 percent.

“The last couple of years have been the slowest,” said Ed Oxley, who has owned Earth Rose since 1970.

The downturn in sales is linked to a decrease in the number of people who visit the village, many agreed.

“Within the last three years I have seen such a decline in visitors over the weekends,” said Josie Inslee, the manager of Pangaea Trading Company. “Where are they?”

People have less money to spend, due to the decline in the economy and rising gas prices and heating bills, said Oxley, who also identified competition with large retail chains as adding to local business’s difficulties. Inslee said that the increase in online shopping also undercuts Yellow Springs businesses.

However, many business owners said they believe the decline in tourism is linked less to the economy than to an ineffective effort to publicize the village. People who visit Yellow Springs do have money to spend, several said, but each year the village competes with a rising number of area activities.

“There are so many new things happening each year. We’re getting lost in the shuffle,” said Don Beard, who owns Peach’s Grill, the Import House and Moody Shoes, which is closing.

Yellow Springs appeals to a certain niche market and in that niche “Yellow Springs has a commodity that is not around for 50 miles,” said Michael Koveleski, the owner of Design Sleep who recently moved to the area from New York City. The village’s combination of natural beauty, a lively artists’ community and higher education needs to be more clearly “defined and promoted,” he said. However, Koveleski said, the village also needs to promote itself as a place where visitors can expect a warm welcome.

“The first and foremost thing is to present Yellow Springs as a family-friendly place to bring people,” he said.

Several merchants said that they have heard from visitors about having bad experiences with local shop owners.

“The customer needs to be king. A satisfied customer will tell three people and a dissatisfied customer will tell 10,” said Bob Baldwin, who owns several downtown properties. “Sometimes we’re not as friendly, as welcoming and as accommodating as we should be.”

Joe Vaught, who heads the Jamestown Chamber of Commerce, said that he loves to visit Yellow Springs, but often encounters seeming disinterest from merchants, so that shopping in Yellow Springs can seem like “being in a little French town.”

“When we walk in the shops we should at least be recognized,” he said. “You have the impression that you’re a friendly community, and you are to each other.”

All who attended the meeting seemed to agree that efforts to promote downtown business could be improved. Several suggested that businesses should advertise as a group, therefore garnering more attention in publications.

“It’s a more effective way for us to advertise,” said Eric Clark, the owner of the Springs Motel. “If we have an entire page in a publication it makes us look more like a destination.”

Others commented on the difficulty of coordinating such a group effort. That difficulty could be diminished if the Chamber of Commerce created a list of e-mail addresses for downtown businesses, according to several who attended. The Chamber’s director, Betsy Newman, said that currently there is no such list.

Others suggested that the Chamber needs to contact regional newspapers to promote the writing of travel articles about Yellow Springs in order to attract more tourists. Downtown businesses could also advertise during public television auctions, said Dark Star Books owner Mary Alice Wilson, who also suggested creating brochures focusing on specific kinds of businesses, including one for restaurants and one for arts-oriented businesses.

While some suggested focusing on a business Web site, others said that a Web site is “passive” advertising, since to visit the Web site potential tourists “have to already know what they want to find,” Clark said. “We need something more proactive. People will look at a brochure and think, oh, there’s an idea,” he said.

Several cited as an example of a successful public relations effort last fall’s tour of artists’ studios, which drew many people into the village for a weekend and which was organized by Lisa Goldberg.

People who visit Yellow Springs often express frustration at the seemingly whimsical store hours, said realtor Bambi Williams. “Now there’s not enough consistency in availability,” said Williams, who suggested that store owners “entertain the idea of all stores having a common time when they will be open.”

Others suggested the possibility of having a monthly Art Stroll during which downtown businesses would be open. Currently, Art Stroll is held twice a year.

Several Dayton and Corry Street business owners expressed disappointment that the Dayton Street streetscape project, which was undertaken by Village several years ago to revitalize that shopping district, has never been completed. While the project was to include new street lights and extended parking, those things never materialized, said Epic Book Shop owner Gail Lichtenfels, who suggested that downtown business owners put pressure on Village Council to finish the project.

At the end of the meeting, Hollister identified several action items for the Chamber of Commerce, including the need for a publicist for downtown businesses, the need to create a business mailing list, the need to form a group to work on the Chamber’s bylaws and the possible creation of a monthly Art Stroll evening during which downtown businesses would be open.

Many who attended the meeting expressed frustration at the lack of public relations efforts coming from the Chamber, and the need for such efforts.

“Yellow Springs needs a new image, a new project to get it out there,” Baldwin said. “We need someone in the Chamber to wear that hat.”

Newman, who is the only Chamber employee, said that she does not have enough time to increase her public relations efforts.

“I do everything from vacuuming the floor to public relations to Street Fair,” she said. “I need some help.”

Asked how things will change in the next few months, Newman said that “in the next two to three months traffic will pick up because the weather will get better. Other than that it’s the same old story, not enough people to do the work.”