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April 16, 2008

What’s Killing The Great Shops of Carytown?

Posted by Ross @ 8:03 am |

27 Comments.

Perhaps the “dynamic public relations advocate” could convince that hefty portion of the business owners that have not broken the code already, that maintaining clean and weed free sidewalks and tree wells in front of their businesses and removing Graffiti swiftly is in their very best interest, if you own the property or not. Even the Carytown “Gateway”, the district’s own front door with cutesy signage at Thompson and Cary, is looking like a still from Wild Kingdom.

Though I agree mostly with Harry, it should not require an outside consultant to get all/most merchants on board with these basic items. There are parts of Carytown that have gone seriously downhill from a maintenance perspective over my 8 years of knowing the area and these businesses are not cheap to keep in business, so where is the pride of ownership for those not keeping up their storefronts?!?

I love this area of the city and it is frustrating to see this lack of attention. I would like to see them address these basic issues before attempting something more grande.

Fiona @ April 16th, 2008 at 9:33 am
On Sunday, I walked down Cary and proclaimed that a string of four stores should pack up and go: Soak! (although I like a bath bomb as much as the next person), Faruks (cuz it’s really not very good indian and the buffet has featured the same mediocre dishes for years), Shirtfresh (?), and Bang-On (ironic t-shirts come from thrift stores, sorry).

I think the turn-over is encouraging. Change is good. Let’s see the Cool Breeze Chat House at Broad and Hungry Springs replace Faruks.

RVA Foodie @ April 16th, 2008 at 11:33 am
Shirtfresh is new. I’m not saying it’s necessary or that I would shop there, but it’s new.

Sarah @ April 16th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
bang-on is fantastic. i love thrift stores as much as the next, but bang-on offered some really fantastic prints… with unlimited opportunities for customization. i say this, because it is the only store i have purchased anything from in carytown, in a really long time.

i agree, that more attention to the storefronts, and staying open long enough to shop after work would help carytown.

sarah @ April 16th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
How about the outrageous monthly rental fees that shop owners are having to pay to keep their spaces? That may have a tad bit to do with it…

Parker @ April 16th, 2008 at 7:34 pm
Harry, the next time you’re patronizing a Carytown business, ask the proprietor if they’re a member of the Carytown Merchants Association because without their dues, all those great points you blogged about will never get done. You may be shocked to know just how many businesses do not see the importance of joining their neighborhood association and what those funds could do to keep their shopping district vibrant and successful.

Deborah Boschen @ April 16th, 2008 at 8:27 pm
I don’t think this “Carytown Crisis” is worse than it has been over the past year or so.

Many of the businesses leaving Carytown are not “going-out-of-business” but merely upgrading their space. Acacia wanted a better kitchen and setup. The Piano Store and Elephant Toe wanted bigger spaces and moved west. This is part of the normal cycle and should not be concerning.

As for the other shops closing, there seems to be more businesses lining up to take their space. Hopefully the restaurant moving into the “Happy Interactions” space has a better concept.

As for the recession that we’re in, I think it will actually be good for Carytown, relatively speaking. Many business owners will realize that location is king, and that crappy strip mall in the corner of gridlocked Downtown Short Pump doesn’t bring in the customers that the mile of style that is Carytown does.

Thanks for tee-ing up the conversation Harry!

Sam @ April 17th, 2008 at 8:08 am
Harry ~ Your interest in Carytown is so appreciated. You bring up great
points, and we in the Carytown Merchant Association have worked diligently
to address all of them among ourselves, our members and with the City.

We welcome you to come discuss your ideas and recommendations on executing
such improvements at our next board or marketing meeting, which occur
monthly and weekly, respectively, and consist of merchants who volunteer
their time outside of running their businesses to work hard to make Carytown
all that we want it to be.

As the heartbeat of the city, we want to continue to improve and enhance the
experience for Richmonders and visitors alike. With the ever changing
landscape that is in any retail business community, while we hate to see
businesses go, we welcome all the new businesses that choose Carytown as
their home.

Thanks again for your interest and great points! Know they are not falling
on deaf ears and many of us in the Carytown community share your sentiments
and work hard to see them to fruition. We invite you to help and hope to
see you at an upcoming meeting. Anne and Heather

Anne and Heather @ April 17th, 2008 at 10:59 am
The price of gas

bopst @ April 17th, 2008 at 11:08 pm
Aren’t most of the stores closed on Sunday and in the weekday evenings? Between the pain-in-the-ass parking and the stores never being open when I’m available to spend money, Carytown is just plain inconvenient. And there’s so many people there on Saturday that I avoid it like the plague.

Rashpot @ April 19th, 2008 at 6:32 pm
I agree that Bang-On is awesome and needs to go nowhere. Bang-On harkens back to the good old days of Cary Street pre-Carytown, where a punk kid like myself could ride my bike over from Byrd Park with a pocket full of paper route money, get a cheeseburger and onion rings at Ma’s & Pa’s, a Cheap Trick shirt at the Dirt Shirt and still have enough left over to get a coke at the 7-11 that is now a French restaurant.

I know that it’s better for the merchants to cater to a wealthier demographic and I don’t begrudge them the profit — I’m all for everybody grabbing whatever gusto they can — but I sure miss Cary Street, and Bang-On makes me feel like I’m there again.

Anne @ April 20th, 2008 at 2:49 pm
Greetings, almost a dozen responses:

Thanks for reading, and I apologize for what were unfortunate slips of the digits as I typed in a far too harried clip.

I trust that any who read received my comments with the intention that I gave them; that of a concerned citizen, living in West of Boulevard South of Cary (WoBSoC), whose quality of life is inestimably enhanced by CT.

Fiona, re: “Outside Consultant” — Well, I mean to suggest bringing someone from way out of the CT-universe at some hefty consultant rate fee, if that’s how I sounded. There’s probably the kind of talent right there in the C or along its tributaries to make this kind of approach possible. But, as a later respondent mentioned, that must be driven by the Carytown Association. Otherwise, such an enterprise would fail.

I agree with you about portions of Carytown going on an aesthetic slide; but seems to me this is indicative of several factors; first, the percentage of properties that are rental, not owned; second, shopkeepers who are exerting a great deal of energy on keeping their doors open, may not have much fight left for weeds.

I have glanced down some of the narrow spaces between buildings and viewed piles of trash and it makes me wonder. How will this get cleaned up? I will, on a Saturdy after a big Friday, pick up odd bits and scraps just because they annoy me.
Somtimes I wonder if Carytown may not need its version of Clean and Safe team with pushcarts or some such.

Anne and Heather, re: come to a meeting. Well, I appreciate the invitation, but I’m not sure that I could make any more–what I hope–are constructive comments in the flesh than here. I don’t know that you need to hear me yammer–which I can do at great length about varied topics, including those about which I know little.

The merchants–those who have the most at stake along Cary Street–are the ones who need to figure out next steps. There are limits, and I understand, to personal time and effort. But that’s why Carytown is Carytown to begin with–because a stalwart group of entrepreneurs and creatives came together and said: we’re going to make something of this.

Now we are in the era of Short Pump and Stony Point, and I have to wonder about whose who complain of parking and crowds. I don’t get it. People will park a quarter mile away in a mall lot and walk across steaming asphalt to get in, and jostle past assorted hunters of bargains to find their destination store. Plus, there are not one but two parking decks.

Carytown isn’t air conditioned, but at least we can tell what time it is.

RVA Foodie, re: Farouk’s: I’ve not patronized the establishment, but I know it has been in that location a long while and somebody must go there. Otherwise, how do they stay open? Ya got me.

RVA and Sam: Yes, change can sift and suss out the poor operating stores for good ones. Economic periods and retail corridors have their life cycles.

I am reminded that in the mid-1980s that there were boarded up stores and practically howling coyotes in CT. But shopkeepers banded together and, well, here we are again.

Thanks all for your indulgence.

Harry @ April 22nd, 2008 at 1:16 am
Oops–Fiona, re: “Outside Consultant” — I DIDN’T mean to suggest, is how that line should read.

OK. It’s so late it’s early and time for all good Kollatz boys to crank up the Great American Sleep Machine.

Harry @ April 22nd, 2008 at 1:18 am
“Sometimes I wonder if Carytown may not need its version of Clean and Safe team with pushcarts or some such.”
A-M-E-N

I too pick up random bit of debris off CT sidewalks on early morning walks, as I do in front of my own property..funny though…I did the same when I was a renter…not because I am special but because I did not want to live with a pile of crap in front of my apartment…same principal applies to a business..look at the Main Street developments near VPU…Eck pays for a regular picker-upper person to tend the entire corridor…I am not buying that trash and weeds represent % renters, more likely the limited 24 hours in a day but business owners have got to understand that the 5 minutes a day that would be required would improve the look of care and attention to the area would also improve the reputation of the shopping district

not meaning to “beat a dead horse” here but pride of ownership should extend to the public spaces in CT

Fiona @ April 22nd, 2008 at 8:51 am
Fiona:

Thing about picking up random trash is that I like the way the sidewalk looks afterward. I can stand back and say: Hey, I can’t do much, but I did this. And it takes no time at all.

I didn’t realize Eck had a clean up crew for his territory down the street. Makes sense. And Uptown looks good, too. Urban shopping shouldn’t necessarily mean “gritty.”

OK. No more kinetic force against a supine equine. Although, I have to say, I miss the bartlett pear trees. They provided shade in the summer, staved off rain between awnings, and picturesque sights in the snow. The trees were old, yes, but in some other town where the urban arboreal was taken with some seriousness, those trees would’ve just gotten trimmed back, some nipping and tucking, and the street wouldn’t at certain times seem sterile and hard. LIke some De Chirico painting. “Melancholy and Mystery of the Street” —

http://www.colchsfc.ac.uk/art/De%20Chirico%202.jpg

Harry @ April 24th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
Trees would be nice.

the Wookie @ April 24th, 2008 at 10:49 pm
…A-a-nd there goes another one.

Lava is now closing.

But, while hauling my little grocery cart from Kroger this evening I noted that the big ugly SPACE AVAILABLE sign that draped All Fired Up!, and the small posters that indicated the owners were pooped and looking for somebody to take over the business, were absent. Hope this is good news.

Harry @ April 25th, 2008 at 1:34 am
I heard that the owner of Lava is moving out of town. The boutique will certainly be missed, but the reason for its closing is probably not related to the suggestions raised in this post.

Jay @ April 25th, 2008 at 10:39 am
There are 250 shops along the mile of Cary Street. Each has a story. Every one is different…

http://www.criterion.com/asp/release.asp?id=380

Harry @ April 26th, 2008 at 2:37 am
it looks like we can add Carytown Seafood to the list as well.

chase @ April 27th, 2008 at 9:36 am
I believe there’s a surefire way that would keep Carytown thriving for years. It may never happen though as the changes needed are of enormous magnitude, and a cooperation between the local property owners, the businesses, the City of Richmond, and the local residents, are all needed to make this happen. My idea is fairly simple in thought, but as you logistically think it over it is a huge undertaking.

Quite simply, Carytown as a whole (or at some structured point), should be a pedestrian only area. In doing so, the roadway could be replaced with pavers, cobblestone, or some other unique layer. Park benches, fountains, larger sidewalks, trees, nice lamp posts, plants, and other features would need to be added. Store fronts would all need to be renovated to comply with some kind of higher standards of design. This would probably take some kind of a covenants committee who could oversee all improvements in the Carytown district. Think of Colonial Williamsburg’s Merchant Square, or in Boston….Fanuel Hall. These areas attract people not only for their shops and restaurants, but also because of their charm and enjoyable surroundings. Parking, Auto Traffic, People, and Money, are the hurdles that would need to be overcome. This would require all Carytown property owners to actively want to be part of some kind of association that had some control over their property. It would require extreme help from the city in the form of planning, implementation, money, and incentive to property owners and businesses. However, if Carytown was able to make this facelift and change it’s dynamic, it is hard to believe it wouldn’t be a huge success.

Bill @ April 27th, 2008 at 8:44 pm
We were in Charlottesville over the weekend and had the same thought as Bill when we saw the outdoor seating along the middle of the Downtown Mall.

chase @ April 28th, 2008 at 10:56 am
Bill, i totally agree with you. making thompson through boulevard a pedestrian only zone would be the sweetest thing ever. also, keeping the shops open until 8 or 9 might help too, that way when you are stuck waiting to get into a restaurant, you can browse!

also. RVA Foodie, why on earth would you tell farouk’s to close just because you think they are boring? thats just lame. that is the only place in carytown you can get traditional indian food! and their lunch buffet is a STAPLE for the people who work around there. maybe we should think more about keeping places OPEN than shutting them down because YOU don’t like them.

elphaba @ April 28th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
“Store fronts would all need to be renovated to comply with some kind of higher standards of design”…

color me crazy, but I thought the bohemian feel of CT was the whole point…coordinate the property owners…improve the common spaces…enforce building codes and property maintainance…

but if I wanted standardization I would move to Short Pump

Fiona @ April 29th, 2008 at 8:23 am
Bill, Chase, Fiona, etc.

I am a whole-hearted advocate of the Thompson to Boulevard pedestrian mall concept. Such an idea has been bruited on this site in months past, and makes just plain good sense.

Wonder if there’s ever been a study about what the ratio is per cars going down Cary to those that actually stop for its passengers to shop, dine or seek entertainment here. My hunch is that we’d be surprised.

What I see in the middle of the day is clogged one-way traffic, motorists not stopping, but avoiding the Downtown Expressway tolls. Trust me, it’s going to get worse with the “user fee” price hike, a tax by any other name, and one done without public approval.

[The RMA will argue that the regional residents have de facto representation through elected officials on the RMA board.

This contention is exactly what some members of George III's Parliament made: that each MP actually represented all British subjects, not just their districts. ]

So, yes. And I also agree that establishing homogenizing standards for the shops isn’t a good idea. We want diversity and creativity, as this is a hallmark and reason for Carytown’s continued existence.

Now, will somebody get up on a ladder and flick a finger against Can Can’s west-facing neon?

Harry @ April 30th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
While I think a pedestrian area would be fabulous, I at least think that keeping the stores open later would be a great start. One of the times I would most like to shop there is when waiting for a restaurant and so many are closed.

Oh and I still think that closing the “windows” at Can Can ruined so much of the feel of the area. I know that Can Can was new. But it was great for the season that it was open.

Amy @ May 5th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
Harry,

re: All Fired Up–yes, it is now under new ownership.

Mike @ June 23rd, 2008 at 2:15 pm