Downtown area draws retail outlets, adds to business mix

by Paul Schreiber

SBJ Reporter

pschreiber@sbj.net

Retail business is making a resurgence in downtown Springfield, drawn by low rents and growing foot traffic.

New additions include Allison's Floral & Gifts and Staxx clothing store, and Ms. Brown's has announced plans for a downtown location.

Since moving to 220 S. Campbell, Audrey Green, owner of Allison's Floral & Gifts, said sales to walk-in customers have increased. She noted her previous site, at 3346 S. National in Bradford Center, was set back from the street enough to escape the attention of most passersby, even along busy National Avenue.

Meghan Stack, owner of Staxx at 331 South Ave., echoed Green's comment regarding downtown sidewalk traffic, citing street layout and business concentration as conducive to walk-in sales.

Female college students rank high in the Staxx demographic. And daytime buys for weekend events are more the rationale than purchasing something for a future event, she said.

Stack said she and her six employees cleared her monthly goal of $21,000 in just three days.

And new arrivals are not alone in seeing positive traffic.

Richard Rebori, owner of 47-year-old Rebori Shoes, remains reserved about the long-term viability of downtown's retail rebound, but said the recent expansion of residential loft properties and the migration of restaurants into the area have definitely proven a strong motivator for getting people back.

Rebori said sales from foot traffic have increased in his store, especially from young people. Downtown's knock-out blow for several years was Battlefield Mall, he said, while adding another verse to a recurring theme: parking availability. "I think when they took the parking off the square it had a great negative impact on business downtown," Rebori said.

There are 127 retail-based businesses and restaurants operating in the downtown area, according to John Simmons, executive director of Urban Districts Alliance. That's a net increase of 40 since January 2003.

There were 65 businesses started in that time 19 restaurants and 46 retail-based outlets, Simmons said. The 16-month period saw 25 business closures 10 restaurants and 15 retail shops.

According to the Community Improvement District, the downtown area's borders are Kimbrough Avenue, Grant Avenue, Chestnut Expressway and Elm Street, Simmons said.

Allison's Floral & Gifts

For Green, her April 1 move to Campbell Avenue gives her more bang for her leasing buck.

Green's rent in Bradford Center ran about $11.50 per square foot, she said, but with the move, she's more than doubled her space to about 4,000 square feet, and with a lease rate of $6 per square foot she gets 2,200 more square feet for only $300 more a month. She has a one-year lease and rents from Sam Freeman.

Another advantage for Green was the elimination of shopping center fees, such as the building maintenance and trash service fees at Bradford Center.

Pulling up stakes and relocating the shop to downtown was predicated on a central Springfield site that offered market exclusivity Green is the only florist in the immediate downtown area.

Green spent about $1,500 on her remodel, which included adding an interior wall for her designers and a built-in cooler. Though the building was last used by a nightclub, it was in good shape and was repainted by Freeman, who will also re-open a south-facing window space to give Green more room for displays and signage, Green said.

Green bought Allison's from Judy Moldenhauer for $95,000 in 2003. Beyond flowers, Green and her four employees sell candles, lotions, frames, pottery, potpourri, scents, greeting cards and home dcor items. Her designers create silk arrangements as well as fresh.

Following her store acquisition in 2003, Green said she increased revenues by about 7 percent. "I would like to do at least that this year," she said.

Revenues for 2003 were $305,000, Green said. She employs four and thinks she'll add a couple more by year end.

Clothing stores

Staxx opened its doors March 4 in 2,100 square feet at the corner of South Avenue and Walnut Street. The store's inventory includes urban wear for women and men.

The entrepreneur's decision to locate downtown was on the advice of Brian Fogle, vice president of community development with Great Southern, building owners Mayor Tom Carlson and his wife Chandler, and Stack's parents, Jack and Betsy Stack.

Stack, a business graduate from the University of Arkansas, credits exceeding her monthly goal in only three days to a conservative and well-thought-out business plan constructed with the help of her father, CEO of Springfield Remanufacturing Corp.

Stack rents her single-story space for about $10 a square foot and has a two-year lease with an option to renew. Stack put about $15,000 into revamping the retail space, including logos and signage, a soft-drink area and other particulars to give it the atmosphere she wanted.

Across the street from Staxx, Ms. Brown's will be opening a second Springfield store this summer at 330 South Ave. The 1,300-square-foot site is the former location of The Antique Cowboy. Getting downtown has been a long-range goal, said owner Cathey Brown. She rents from building owner Kay Tolliver-Whitney, who also manages Ms. Brown's at 1815 E. Grand.

The Antique Cowboy, which specializes in vintage Western memorabilia, is moving to Ozark Antique Mall.

Calling Ms. Brown's a "daughter-mother-grandmother shop," Brown offers new clothing for all ages and sizes. Inventory also includes jewelry, purses, bath items, soaps and lotions, candles, wind chimes, incense and knick-knacks, she said.

The locations for Staxx and Ms. Brown's should benefit not only from pedestrian traffic, but from drive-by exposure. Traffic counts on South Avenue north of Walnut Street totaled 4,700 vehicles on April 30, 2002, said Ashley Hamler, traffic engineering intern for the city.

On Walnut Street, east of South Avenue, the count was 5,513 on Aug. 13, 2003, she said.