Main Street makeover

A few years ago, small-town business districts across the region were struggling as customers flocked to malls and big-box stores. The number of storefront vacancies increased; the variety of shops diminished.

Then, Main Street fought back.

From Haddonfield and Collingswood in South Jersey to West Chester and Phoenixville in Philadelphia's Pennsylvania suburbs, towns played up their historic charm - and found new niches as restaurant, boutique or arts-and-entertainment destinations.

They hired retail coordinators and Main Street managers to recruit and market retailers. And they started business-improvement districts to pay for advertising, public art, street cleaning and research on new economic-development strategies.

The result? Empty stores were filled with unique businesses, sidewalk cafes blossomed, buildings were constructed, and entertainment was offered, including carriage rides, outdoor concerts and historic-house tours.

"A number of towns have reinvented themselves and made a major comeback from the doldrums when malls emerged victorious in the regional retailing war," said James Hughes, dean of the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University in New Brunswick.

"As mall fatigue set in, maturing baby boomers remembered what it was like visiting grandma and seeing a [small] downtown. And they wanted their community to have a vibrant downtown."

In Haddonfield, the revitalization efforts began with the borough's formation of a task force that plotted strategies with merchants and residents. Officials hired a consulting firm to analyze the town's needs and employed a retail coordinator to recruit businesses.

"The business mix had deteriorated a bit," said Lisa Hurd, the retail coordinator. "The businesses that were coming into town were not necessarily businesses residents would want to return to. They were more for tourists. People were taking their shopping dollars elsewhere."

Hurd searched for new businesses in Red Bank, Princeton, Lambertville, Philadelphia, Wayne and West Chester. And soon vacancy signs were replaced by those announcing "leased."

Apparel and shoe stores, restaurants, and bath and beauty shops began moving in. The town now has more than 20 apparel and accessory stores as well as many restaurants. To further encourage commercial activity, Haddonfield also created a business district.

"People are looking for the experience that downtown shopping has to offer," Hurd said. "We think we can carve out a niche with boutique retail and restaurants.

"All the towns are developing little niches; you want to be a top-of-mind destination."

Success can carry certain dangers, though, said Hughes of Rutgers. "Some successful towns can be overwhelmed by a certain activity; they can be overrun by too many branch banks," he said. "All of a sudden, you lose your storefronts. You want a balance."

In Collingswood, the purchase and renovation of a landmark apartment complex - the Parkview - helped spur the renewal effort. The high-rise apartments had been losing renters at an alarming rate.

"The Parkview deal did it for us," said Jim Maley, who as borough commissioner in 1996 negotiated the takeover of the apartments and as mayor oversaw their sale at a profit.

"People believed things would be better and that gave us the political ability to do more."

Collingswood took over a vacant schoolhouse by eminent domain - a move that led to its conversion into an architectural and planning firm employing 100 people - and created a business district.

The changes encouraged new development. More businesses have moved in, and the town's new LumberYard condominium project is under construction. Further improvements are expected as the town takes advantage of its proximity to the PATCO station.

"Our success is the mom-and-pop stores," Maley said. "But we're real heavy on restaurants."

In Burlington City, a transit station on the new Riverline sparked interest there. In 2004, the trains started running and a Main Street organization was formed to market the town. Since then, 30 new businesses have opened there.

Donna Boone, executive director of Main Street Burlington, said the business owners had come to think of the organization on East Broad Street as the management office.

She said a downtown-market analysis is now under way. It will include an inventory of the city's buildings and businesses and a survey of owners that will help profile customers.

Main Street Burlington and the city's Tourism Council also are paying to advertise the town as a shopping destination, using flyers in the Riverline trains and "wraps" around the trains themselves.

Boone said towns had to be as aggressive and resourceful as shopping centers in their marketing and management.

They also have to take advantage of what the shopping centers don't have.

"Small towns have a quality that attracts people," said Malcolm Johnstone, executive director of the West Chester Improvement District. "They're quaint and charming. Their shops have more interesting merchandise, not like the predictable mall stores."

In West Chester, the redevelopment of four buildings at the key intersection of High and Gay Streets helped launch a town-wide revitalization. The borough began showing improvements between 1998 and 2000 after the the buildings were taken over by the Iron Hill Brewery and Restaurant, a drug store, bank and retail store.

Johnstone was hired, and a business district was formed in 2000 to begin capitalizing on the new optimism in town. He helped oversee promotion and marketing in the newspapers, radio and television.

New partnerships were developed with public agencies in the borough and county to add further impetus; $250,000 was spent on new signs to give the town a sense of place, and two parking garages were built.

The improvements drew shops that sold jewelry, fashion clothes and gourmet chocolates. Some stores allowed customers to make their own handbags, create bead jewelry, and paint and fire souvenir plates.

"We're a shopping destination with 79 retail stores and a dining destination with 55 restaurants," Johnstone said.

In Phoenixville, revitalization efforts picked up steam three years ago with the hiring of a Main Street manager and refurbishment of an old theater. The town had a 21 percent vacancy rate at the time.

Barry Cassidy, director of the Main Street Community Development Corp., began developing an arts-and-entertainment strategy for the town as a way of drawing entrepreneurs. "When I got here, everything was in disarray," he said. "People were investing in buildings and fixing them up, but it was an undefined effort.

"We got an 'anchor building grant' from the state for $250,000 to expand the capacity of the Colonial Theatre. The theater was the catalyst."

Cassidy said a community-watch program was initiated, police patrols were stepped up, and $4 million in state and county funds was obtained to pay for a new streetscape, including brick sidewalks.

He said that truck traffic through the town's main drag - Bridge Street - was banned; outdoor music performances and sidewalk cafes were started; and a tax increment on six new buildings was levied to help pay for outdoor murals, sculpture and arts-and-entertainment planning.

Whatever Main Street business districts offer these days, they have to stand out.

"The big-box stores and national chains at the malls have made it intensely competitive," said Hurd, the Haddonfield retail coordinator. What the small towns have to do "is offer customers a shopping experience they can't get anywhere else."