Take a look at the list of businesses along our “Main Street” that have recently closed or announced their closing: Curzon Antiques, S. Columbus Street; Urban Angler, N. Washington Street; Ladyburg Bath & Body Boutique, S. Union Street; Yogi Castle, King Street; Hannelore’s, N. Lee Street; Imperfections!, King Street, J Brown (2nd location), King Street, Le Star, King Street; Cove Office, King Street; Pure Prana (2nd location), N. Alfred Street; Why Not?, King Street; Old Town Tea & Spice, S. Union Street; European Country Living, King Street; Decorium, King Street; Trojan Antiques, King Street; Candy’s Candy, N. Fairfax Street; The Virginia Shop, S. Union Street; Bittersweet, King Street.
These were tax-paying businesses with customers, employees, landlords and important parts of the fabric of our city — and a reason to visit our city. Their owners were also contributors to an enormous number of local charities. Their sudden loss should be a wake up call.
While there are many reasons for this spate of business closings, one cannot deny the changing nature of retail. With 17 blocks of retail space from the waterfront to the Metro, we are challenged by many factors including online sales. If we are to preserve the economic vibrancy of our historic core it is time to examine what the city can do to reverse this trend.
As a long-time business owner here, I can tell you that our regional reputation as a difficult place to do business is well deserved. An arduous approval process (which is not well known or well explained to new businesses), high license and permit fees, numerous taxes, regulatory minutiae, business unfriendly parking policies and an inadequate wayfinding program are at the heart of this. These obstacles collectively undermine our competitiveness when trying to retain and attract new businesses. Our civic leaders need to continue to address these issues. And, as citizens, we need to support leaders who support our economic vibrancy.
In this day and age of increased competition from online sales we can no longer rest on our laurels as a historic colonial city that the world’s largest (online) bookseller deems the country’s most romantic. We must take a hard look at placemaking, beautification and better maintenance of our streetscape. We need to employ better coordination and deployment of historic resources between city departments, increased programming and utilization of our parks and public spaces, and examine our very restrictive special events policies. Our waterfront plan needs to be fully implemented without further delay. As part of that, the Torpedo Factory Arts Center should proceed with the recommended restructuring so that it can appeal in the 21st century to local families, millennials and visitors (and begin generating tax revenue for the city rather than being subsidized by the taxpayer).
Yes, if we want our retail core to survive, we need to attract more people here — people who want to shop, dine, attend events and put tax revenue in our city’s coffers while keeping our locally owned businesses in business.
At a time when there are so many demands of our municipal budget (including long overdue maintenance of our City Hall building) it’s time to start thinking about how we create a dynamic economy for the modern world while retaining our colonial charms.
Besides running a business in the heart of Old Town for the past 33 years, my prism is my recollection as a young boy of the many empty retail spaces along King Street in the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s. Let’s not make the mistake of thinking this cannot happen again.