posted on July 14, 2010 09:07
By Joe Borgstrom, Director
Specialized Technical Assistance
& Revitalization Strategy Division
Michigan State Housing Development Authority
We get it. The economy is tough. Some businesses are having a hard time getting by. So we will look the other way when a business owner puts a hand made sign up in the window for a sale one week. Then the next week. Then two handmade signs. Then another business owner decides to do it. And another. In another building the roof is leaking. So a bucket goes in the store’s aisle way and a ceiling tile or two comes down. It stays like that for a few days, maybe a week or two. Another building owner decides to duct tape the crack in the glass “for a few days until it can get fixed.” It ends up being a few months. Next thing you know, many of your businesses are complaining sales are getting worse. It becomes a downward cycle.
Meanwhile, your Main Street organization or Downtown Development Authority is trying to market your businesses to customers and your downtown to prospective businesses and building owners as a quality place.
What do handmade signs, buckets in the aisle, and duct taped glass say to prospective customers, business and property owners? It says: “We don’t care enough to do right by ourselves, so good luck getting us to care about you.” So they go somewhere else.
We all understand many businesses and property owners are just getting by. But sometimes that reasoning is also a crutch. Maybe they’re just getting by because they are failing to invest in the businesses and properties like they should. You wouldn’t stand in front of a fireplace and say, “give me some warmth and then I’ll throw a log on the fire,” would you?
So how do you deal with business and property owners who fall into this trap? The answer, in short, is “carefully.” Your approach will depend on whether or not the culture is widespread or just a person or two. Chances are all of these folks know they’re cutting corners and are feeling either guilty about it or will get defensive. The more people in your community who are doing these cheap fixes, the more defensive they will be. You’ll hear things like, “Yeah, I’ve got a handmade sign, but Bob over there hasn’t fixed his duct taped window in three months!”
If it’s just a person or two a one-on-one conversation may be all that is needed. Who has that conversation with the person is the trickier part. It could be the Main Street Manager or DDA Director, but would probably be better served coming from the Design chair or a fellow business owner who isn’t cutting corners. Preferably, those people would be one and the same. It sounds better from someone who is in the same position as the business/property owner. The message should not be lecturing, but more specific of what the problem is. It should also contain something along the lines of “in addition to hurting your sales, you do know how your business (or property) looks reflects on the rest of the downtown, right?” A lot of times this will do the trick.
If the culture has spread to several business/property owners, an education component should become a major priority for your Design and Economic Restructuring committees. The message should still be the same in educating the effects these cheap fixes have both on their immediate bottom line (sales) and the overall district. Doing education pieces on what looks bad versus what looks good can also be powerful using examples from somewhere else.
Above all else, be careful in how you approach people. You can be direct, but don’t take photos of their business or property and drop them in front of them pointing out their flaws like you are a detective catching them in a lie. That approach makes people defensive, and will most likely burn a bridge.
As a last resort, if the problem becomes too overwhelming, the “nuclear option” is to amend the code and use enforcement to correct the problems.
What techniques have you used or seen that have been successful?