The Mass Exodus on Main Street begins…

C’mon, Small Potatoes, when will you wake up and understand that Main Street needs more than your sloppy surveys and self-righteous facebook posts that you are eating at Vasilis (although I’m glad you do come here occasionally, I don’t need to see the pictures of your half-nibbled plate that might make people think you support Main Street).

Look what happened this week alone:

While I really hate to see any business leave Main Street, I can’t blame these two.  Chloe’s in particular, will be a real loss.  They’ve been here awhile, really tried to hit a stride, and for better or worse, according to Tom Lonergan’s infamous survey, people in the neighborhood really do want an independent coffee shop.  I guess they don’t want it enough…or wait, that survey doesn’t mean much because maybe there aren’t enough customers in the neighborhood to support them, and Main Street needs to figure out how to draw customers from outside of Pleasantville.  (Sorry if I sound like a broken record…)

I care about the viability of Main Street as much as just about anyone.  I may no longer have a storefront on Main Street, but I did, and I founded the KDP, and I chose to live here, raise my kids here, and we still operate our business here from home.  I just care.  So, I had a chance to sit down with Tom Lonergan and talk about Main Street, the next steps for his survey, and how he feels about the pending game of Monkey in the Middle I described in an earlier post.  

If you checked out my last blog post on Patch, you know that I set out to ask him some pretty tough questions.  As usual and expected, my meeting with Tom was informative, interesting and the time passed quickly!  Also as expected, his “official” responses were drier than his quippy conversation.  But, I’ll take what I can get and see how you respond:

As for the website, promised since he started, he promises that he’ll have something to show people soon.  He says that much of the back-end work is complete, will include a bucket for each of the City’s commercial centers, an events calendar, sections to highlight the City’s incentive programs, search engines for available properties, information on demographics, major employers, housing, schools, transportation links, and a bucket dedicated to the Biotech industry.

When asked about Kentlands Downtown being squashed by Crown and Watkins Mill, and if it worries him, he says that he’s “thrilled by the new commercial development at both Crown and Watkins Mill, not to mention the fresh life that will be breathes into Lakeforest Mall by its new owners.”  Huh?  Well, i guess he HAS to say that.  He went on to say that the new investment means new revenue, shopping and jobs for Gaithersburg residents.

I get that, but what about property values here in Kentlands/Lakelands, Tom?  What will happen when all of these Main Street shops leave?  He commented, “I believe that a neighborhood as beloved, as charming, and as successful as the Kentlands will always have a style and allure of its own.”  Tom!  Clearly that allure isn’t working!!!  He said he is working on some ways to enhance the aesthetic of Main Street.

Does it bother Tom that Crown and others are wooing our favorite businesses away?  Not really.  He says it hardly surprises him.  It doesn’t surprise me, either.  Tom says, “Great businesses are always being courted by other centers and other towns.  It’s always nice to see businesses that start within, and almost always become synonymous with, a particular neighborhood, to stay where they are and thrive, but I also recognize the realities of commerce and competition.”

He also mentioned that he is planning to open up a Main Street survey to others in the near future, but wasn’t able to give a firm date.  I think this is critical to get feedback from people who don’t live here.  What would bring them here?  A new independent coffeeshop…oh, wait…

Who at the City is Sleeping with Sherri the Pennsylvania Crabcake Lady?

It’s no secret that I am critical of the City’s organization of major community festivals. I organize these types of events for clients often, and to great success. I have been trying to create change for years through testimony to City Council, letters to the editor as a former President and founder of the Kentlands Downtown Partnership, and sitting on City committees. None of that worked, and so now I write a blog and can point out criticism and opportunities for change here. Maybe something will eventually click! Oktoberfest was this past weekend, and I attended with my famiily. My kids had fun getting their faces painted, riding the ponies and dancing on the dance floor. I enjoyed the music and seeing many of my neighbors out on a beautiful, sunny day. There were lots of people there, and I’m glad people were having fun in our neighborhood. I’m just convinced that the City leaders and Parks department will never learn from their mistakes with regard to supporting local business. They lose so many opportunities to misplaced priorities at these events.

There were fewer businesses there than in prior years. My guess why? The City doesn’t understand that local businesses use these events as marketing opportunities, and fewer businesses are willing to return, or may just lower their monetary participation level, after being disheartened. I’ve been citing certain examples for years including Sherri’s Crabcakes from Pennsylvania (wait a second, isn’t Maryland famous for crabcakes?) being brought in to vend at this event. The owner of O’Donnells, who is a fabulous and consistent supporter of local events and a four-year Platinum sponsor of Kentlands Day, where he sells lots of the best crabcakes ever each year, has told yours truly in the past that he would never come out to City events like Oktoberfest again after being placed near Sherri’s at Oktoberfest years ago. The owner of Potomac Pizza, also a wonderful supporter of the community, was once a high-donor sponsor of Oktoberfest, but doesn’t appreciate the competition with the out-of-state food trucks. He comes to sell his awesome pizza pie, but not as a sponsor any longer. Unfortunately, this message to cater to local business and to make these events beneficial for them has fallen on deaf ears for years. Here’s just one instance of several when I’ve testified to the small potatoes about this concern with regard to City-organized events.

This year, I saw so many wasted opportunities to highlight local businesses and make sure that each of them had a great experience and want to come back. My Gym and Romp-n-Roll, direct competitors, were placed on the lawn right next to each other. Neither of them could have been happy with that, and only one is even a G’burg biz. A row of businesses including a couple from the neighborhood, were placed right in front of noisy generators from the concession stands (at least they ultimately moved those business tents across the street instead of being right up against the noise and fumes, but who wants to be near that noise all day?). Ever heard of a silent generator, City of Gaithersburg? They exist and could have powered that entire row of concessions. Better yet, you can rent one right in Olde Towne at Gaithersburg Rental, and their experts will even help you run the spider box wires to each vendor. And while some may have appreciated that the City shoved all the politicos off to the side street, the one real business – a window company if I recall – couldn’t have appreciated that you placed them at the very end of politico row at the bottom of a blocked hill, virtually ensuring very little traffic to their tent. You weren’t that crowded on the other streets that you couldn’t have fit them in somewhere else.

Oktoberfest pulls business away from Main Street on what could typically be a very busy weekend retail/restaurant sales day. The least the organizers can do is find good ways to highlight our local businesses and not make them compete with out-of-state concessions.

 

But, again, others and I have been saying these things for years to no avail. So, which potato is sleeping with Sherri and allowing her to sell out-of-state crabcakes (really – Pennsylvania crab cakes? I don’t see the Phillies hiring a MD company to sell cheesesteaks..!) each year? Sigh.

Should I go on. I can, and I will. But I’m just exasperated and will be heading to Miami for some Rice-A-Roni and I’ll stay away from Idaho because I have enough potatoes here in G’burg.

Main Street – a couple businesses are winning

There are a couple of new(er) businesses on Main Street in Kentlands Downtown that I visit frequently, with my two kids in tow, and adore.  These businesses appear to be thriving, and it’s not just because they are owned/operated by the best-of-the-best kind of people, or because they are family-friendly, or because they have great products.  All of these things are absolute musts for success on Main Street, but these businesses are more successful and gain more exposure because they forge great community partnerships.

The businesses I’m writing about – Green Jeans Boutique and SpagNvola – are indeed everywhere.  I attended an event called “Rachel Carson Day” this past weekend at Green Jeans.  A percentage of sales went back to our local school’s PTA, they had lots of kids involved (this proud mama’s daughter’s daisy troop artwork was on the wall) with their artwork and baked goods , the local principal was slated to make an appearance, and not only were they highlighting their own business, but they also let others get in on the action to make it a more interesting event that might raise a few more pennies for the PTA.  A friend who has created and manufactured a unique lip gloss jewelry line for girls called Glosslets was there selling her fun necklaces, and Stella & Dot was there, too.  A student created some fun duct tape keychains and backpack rings to be sold there, and another student made blue ribbon cupcakes.  Was Green Jeans worried that having others involved might distract from their sales?  Clearly not.  They made it a terrific community event that would draw a crowd, enhance their sales, the sales of other vendors they brought in for the day, and entice more Main Street traffic.  Win and Win and Win.  (and I got a couple consignment sweaters for my kids!  Double win for me!)

Look at SpagNVola – awesome product and people.  Single source cocao beans, organically farmed in the Dominican Republic, manufactured right here on Main Street into the most delicious chocolate products you’ve ever tasted.  (OMG – tried their pumpkin chai-something truffles – heaven!)  Did you ever think we’d have our own chocolate factory in Kentlands?  They are awesome people, too – they take care of their farmers by encouraging them to underplant vegetables for their own consumption or to sell at the market on their own.  They host local charity events and private parties at their charming store.  They do outreach at farmers markets, and they partner with local wine stores and gift stores – like Pinky and Pepe’s and Kentlands Flowers & Bows.  They do this to draw more people to their store and enhance their sales, but these efforts draw a lot more people to Main Street, which will cyclically bring even more people.  Win for them.  Win for their farmers.  Win for Main Street.  BIG WIN for this chocolate lover!

I was watching CNN tonight (as I often do because I’m a totally proud political geek), and one of the correspondents, referring to a current political poll, brought up the old adage that in order to do well in politics, people must “know you, like you, and trust you.”  I think the same is true of small business.  The event business my husband and I started in better economic times has hung on in this dire economy, and through a major scale-back, because our clients know us for being involved in the community, like us personally, and trust us to do a great job at their events.  These two newer businesses I write about today are becoming well known, are very well-liked, and I already trust them.  I know others feel the same.

My hope is that these businesses can survive on their islands.  They will become destinations and hopefully support the revitalization of Main Street.  Maybe they will get enough crowds to survive without an interesting and useful mix of other businesses along their otherwise boring-enough blocks, even though they can’t be found once you get into the neighborhood, let alone from the highway.  My hunch, though, is that they will need some help because of all the reasons I’ve written about before in this post and this post.   The potatoes in City Hall, and our Economic Development Director Tom Lonergan, better get on board and form a plan, like yesterday, because I need great, inexpensive kids clothes and awesome organic chocolate in my life.

(Until then, I beg you readers, please go to these stores, help keep them in business.  There are at least a couple hundred of you who read this blog!  Tell a friend and ask them to tell a friend…you won’t be sorry after you have the pumpkin chai truffle.  pinky promise.)

Our Mayor doesn’t care. The opening case….

Is the photo below of Beirut?  Nope – just Olde Towne Gaithersburg.  Where crime and blight come together like a war-torn country…  The heart of Olde Towne at Diamond and Summit Avenues has long been the butt of many jokes.  It’s blighted for sure, looks like a scene from a wild west movie gone bad, and is in desperate need of a makeover.  Some of that makeover is coming along in the form of new apartment buildings with nice amenities.  Some property/business owners care about their storefronts and have sought to make them look nice – check out Victor Litz Music for example.  (And I really like Growlers beer when I have to wash away some dirty potato interaction…)

However, here’s one of my big issues with Olde Towne (besides the obvious crime and the fact that the dirty small potatoes visit there each Monday) – I have a big problem that Snyder Katz’s* own storefront (and really the entire block in which his store is located) is the. worst. part. of Olde Towne.  That area could be a charming streetscape with some TLC – it has historic architecture and even some of the google maps pictures make a googler think the street is nicely reminiscent of a day gone by.  Reality hits ya like a ton of bricks, though!  If the Mayor doesn’t care enough to invest in his own City property, how can he convince others to care?  A well-placed source tells me that while many of the parcels on this block are owned by “business entities,” that Snyder Katz himself has significant business interest in much of the block.  Can you say conflict?  The same source hinted that Snyder, er Sidney, is the one holding up redevelopment efforts on this worst-of-the-worst block.

Olde Towne redevelopment is starting.  My hunch, though, is that the fancy-schmancy new apartments won’t be able to keep tenants there with crap-ola like this down the street, compliments of Snyder Katz.  This scene reminds me of Back to Future when the town was taken over by Big Bad Biff…or the Wild Wild West scene – either way, I think Katz is a descendant of the Tannen family!

I want better for Olde Towne.  It could be a “diamond” in the rough (get it? ha!), but not with Snyder Katz in calling the shots there.

Here’s a pretty scene from the Gaithersburg Olde Town Master Plan, created in… 2005! (we do hire consultants to make pretty pictures for our costly charrettes).  Seven years ago, this is what was envisioned by our hired consultants:

Which picture is better?  hmmm….  And the dirty potatoes even gave away the Clock Tower to Rio last year – so much for that landmark.

I know that Master Plans and Charrettes are idealistic just by the nature in which they were created, but come on!  If the Mayor can’t get his own block on board with something  more than the wild west, why should anyone else care?

PS. My assumption has always been that real commerce doesn’t take place at Wolfson’s – that Katz and his buddies sit around all day smoking pipes and playing checkers, perhaps with some illegal moonshine ring in the back…

*To understand the (Dan) Snyder Katz reference, please see an old post.

Lame-O. Where’s the sense of urgency?

I’m still perplexed and frustrated after last night’s City Council meeting regarding the Kentlands Main Street survey results.  I asked Tom Lonergan, the City’s Economic Development Director for a response to some of the issues I was raising…namely the cannibalization of many of Gaithersburg’s business districts as three new(er) major properties come online in the next 2-3 years, leaving Kentlands Downtown as the monkey in the middle who just can’t play ball.

Here is his response:

“From Crown Farm to Spectrum, new commercial development is springing up in all corners of the City. While this new development further affirms Gaithersburg’s appeal and popularity as the region’s premier place to do business, it also reminds us of the critical need to do all we can as a community to help support our existing shopping districts. And though the survey results have provided us with a myriad of terrific recommendations worthy of further exploration, our applications for TAC signage and Arts & Entertainment District designation, the extension of Toolbox assistance for targeted retail businesses, and the commitment of funds for a way-finding signage consultant represent real and meaningful commitments by the City of Gaithersburg towards that goal. In my 15+ years of working with small businesses in multiple communities, I have never worked with, or even heard of, a municipality which has committed the staff time or financial resources to help stabilize and support their independent business base as Gaithersburg has done and continues to do.”

Tom, no offense, but this is hyper-politicized spin.  I understand that’s how you HAVE to respond, but why so blatant?  The independent business base in Gaithersburg is not stable, nor is it supported by our local leadership.  And our Gaithersburg “community” isn’t populous enough to support all of these commercial districts.  The fact is that Kentlands Downtown will suffer fast without some real leadership, and I don’t see any sense of urgency from the dirty potatoes at City Hall.  We’re spinning the same wheels over again every couple years.  Hello!  Hello?  Do you get this? (Imagine me jumping up and down waving my arms.) Please, help!

Bottom line…it’s great to grow, but we need more people to spend their moo-lah here.  If we can’t import people to shop and eat, then we need more people living in the area to support the commercial development.  These commercial developments have been on the books for years…they aren’t new news (although the dirty potatoes in city hall would like to take full credit for them during their last term in office, they really can’t), so anticipation of the consumer needs to sustain all of these commercial developments also shouldn’t be new.

This discussion is interesting and we should look closer at the Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (APFO), and how our leaders are hypocritical in their application of this ordinance, AND how it negatively impacts Kentlands Downtown. But that will be another day, another post….

For tonight…to my Jewish friends and readers, I wish you an easy fast.

Kentlands Downtown is Screwed.

Yep, I said it.  Kentlands Downtown is screwed.  Well, maybe just Main Street, but maybe not…

So, the dirty small potatoes had a work session this evening to discuss the Main Street Survey that was conducted a few months ago.  Their result….Main Street needs signage and a couple of destination businesses!  No!  Shocking!  Really!?  Click here for tonight’s presentation to the City Council from Economic Development Director Tom Lonergan.

Those of you who know me know that my advocacy for Kentlands Downtown goes back several years.  I choose to live in this community and want it to prosper.  Kentlands Downtown, along with many other business districts in Gaithersburg, has struggled.   The dirty small potatoes who run our City have done diddly-squat.  DIDDLY SQUAT.  They did set aside $2MM 2 years ago… but didn’t spend it… and then hired an Economic Development Director who isn’t allowed to do anything visibly helpful.  See this post from last week for some background info about economic development in Gburg.

We’ve been here before.  In 2007, the City spent $250,000 on a charrette that advised the then-called Kentlands Commercial Business District to do three things: 1) re-name itself Kentlands Downtown, 2) get more signage, and 3) find ways to get more customers beyond the neighborhood.   What did the dirty small potatoes do with those recommendations?  Nothing.

I’m the one who got the area renamed (lots of coffee dates with the dirty potatoes and an evening with some fellow business owners and then despite Dopey Dirty Potato Ashman’s dopey objections, the Town Courier started using the new name and it stuck – WOO HOO!) and I’m the one who started the Kentlands Downtown Partnership with other business owners because the City claimed to need a clear business group to work with in the Downtown.  That was clearly just a stalling tactic, but Dopey Dirty Potato didn’t realize that I’m a doer, not a dopey talker.

Fast forward to 2010 – the City illegally hires their buddy County Councilman and pays him nearly $100,000 over 6 months to make Economic Development recommendations so that a yet-to-be-named Economic Development Director can hit the ground running.  What did that report say?  Same as every report before it.  What happened to that report?  Collecting dust.

Fast forward to 2012 – The new Economic Development Director has been here a year and the “ground still isn’t running”, and he does a survey to find out that we need signage and some destination businesses.  I kid you not.  I guess he thinks it’s a good idea to bring the dirty potatoes along slowly…get everyone used to the idea, right?

THIS IS ALL BALONEY!   As I said, I’m a doer, so here’s what the City needs to do…and fast!

1) Stop collecting data from people who already shop in Kentlands Downtown.  People who live here will continue to patronize the area because it’s convenient.  The more important data points would be what kinds of businesses might bring new and different consumers here.

2) Talk to businesses who left Main Street and find out why they left.  Many of the types of businesses that were cited as desirable from local residents have come and gone or relocated.   Gift store – Azalea, Beadattitudes.  Kids stuff – Appleseed, Jabberu, Ballet Petite.  Cafe – Main Street Cafe/Rubys.  Home decor – JT, L&M.  And really, every time this question comes up, responses include a desire for a bookstore – that would be great if it was 1987 and we didn’t all have Nooks and iPads…and Behemoth B&N wasn’t down the street.  Responses also include coffee shops…but we already have two!  Other good businesses have shut their doors or relocated, too…..  Wouldn’t it be interesting to find out why they couldn’t succeed on Main Street?  (For instance…my biz left Main Street because the rent was too high, no one could find us, and we had landlord problems.  We’re much more successful operating from home in this neighborhood.)

3) Start worrying about Crown Farm and Watkins Mill, both scheduled to start opening in 2014, as well as an improved Lakeforest Mall.  These will completely shut out the monkey in the middle – Kentlands Downtown.  Will one of KD’s most attractive and crowded businesses, Whole Foods, be able to survive with Harris Teeter opening down the street?  Will lots of Main Street businesses suffer because traffic at Whole Foods decreases?  Can our movie theater survive with the existing one at Rio AND a new one at Watkins Mill?  What % of Vasilis and YoYoGi customers will go to the new chain restaurants in these developments?  Even a 10-20% loss would be huge.  These are serious issues.  All of these new properties will have sophisticated signage and marketing programs.  KD will be left in the dust.

If Kentlands Downtown’s Main Street becomes a ghost town, property values go down.  Our New Urbanist community studied across the globe will be neither new nor urbanist.

4) Make KD more enticing to consumers and businesses.  More lighting, banners, more security, more and better SIGNAGE!, more events…these things have all been brought up for years and are not new ideas.   But they’re also small potatoes.  Now, in the shadow of Crown Farm and Watkins Mill construction, much bigger strategic thinking needs to happen.  An Arts and Entertainment district is an interesting idea because it could set us apart from those other business districts and bring people here for other reasons.

Tonight’s big “next step” takeaway was that the City is going to work more closely with KDP.  The Mayor, looking for a scapegoat, called out the KDP for not spending moo-lah that had been set aside a couple years ago.  Well, KDP has struggled since I left.  The current KDP President Joe Pritchard claimed that their “board changes” kept them from moving forward with the City. BALONEY.  (I stepped down 18 months ago, and handed the reigns to him.  No changes since then.  That’s longer than Lonergan’s been in the City.)    Well, Joe, stop kissing butt and don’t let Snyder Katz push you around.  Snyder Katz – did you forget that you’re the Mayor?  You can do something too, you know.  It’s only been 6 years.

(By the way, I had a very long conversation with our Economic Development Director Tom Lonergan after tonight’s Council meeting, and he was kind enough to talk with me even though it was a late night.  I won’t share all the banter, but I’ve asked him for a formal response to the issues I outlined above.  You’ll be the first ones with whom I share his response, small potatoes blog readers!)

9/25/12 – Update.  Tom Lonergan’s email response:

“From Crown Farm to Spectrum, new commercial development is springing up in all corners of the City. While this new development further affirms Gaithersburg’s appeal and popularity as the region’s premier place to do business, it also reminds us of the critical need to do all we can as a community to help support our existing shopping districts. And though the survey results have provided us with a myriad of terrific recommendations worthy of further exploration, our applications for TAC signage and Arts & Entertainment District designation, the extension of Toolbox assistance for targeted retail businesses, and the commitment of funds for a way-finding signage consultant represent real and meaningful commitments by the City of Gaithersburg towards that goal. In my 15+ years of working with small businesses in multiple communities, I have never worked with, or even heard of, a municipality which has committed the staff time or financial resources to help stabilize and support their independent business base as Gaithersburg has done and continues to do.”

Sigh.