Activity: Shopping Downtown
It will be a great Downtown when...
- residents, workers and visitors are able to purchase clothing, gift items, groceries, and other merchandise days, nights and weekends.
- it is more exciting because ground floor retail space is fully occupied and thriving.
- retail mix is competitive with other options in the region.
- retail adds economic value and tenant amenities to the building stock.
The work plan goal for shopping Downtown is to meet the demands of retail consumers in the workforce, in new residential communities as well as the inner ring of adjacent neighborhoods, and those of visitors of all kinds to Downtown. Buffalo Economic Renaissance Corporation estimates place this combined unmet demand at close to three hundred million dollars of buying power a year. Buffalo Place Inc. estimates an unmet office employee demand for retail of $75 million.
Shopping Downtown: Context
Problem Statement
To be a good place to live, work and play, Downtown must have a full complement of service retail. To be a good place to visit it must have at least boutique retail supporting niche market retailing consistent with visitor demand. There is no one organization designed to promote this array of retail need through marketing, identifying available space, quantifying the business opportunity, and proving the market.
Downtown has essentially lost its retail core, traditionally north and south of Lafayette Square on Main Street. However, it has the available space, ease of access to suburban markets, plans for new residential life, solid office employee base, and the opportunity created by the development of healthy inner ring neighborhoods to bring a significant amount of retailing back into the life of the core. Doing so will require enforcement of existing zoning requirements that animate ground floor uses by requiring transparency. It will also require revisions to these requirements in order to ensure there are retail use opportunities on the ground floor in high pedestrian traffic areas Downtown.
There is a substantial unmet demand for retail in Downtown. Current employees describe retail opportunities as the number one amenity they want to see created in Downtown. If new neighborhoods Downtown are to thrive they will need service retail. If our aspirations to make a Downtown for everyone are to become real, we will need to connect retail to the inner ring of neighborhoods and to the region.
Most of the basic infrastructure to make retail happen is not in place. Short-term parking to support retailing is in short supply and expensive. The streetscape needs capital maintenance and refurbishment
Current Status
The current perception is that retail does not work Downtown. A nearly empty mall and well-publicized store closings have reinforced this. However, several specialty and destination stores are thriving. Many of the stores that were in the mall had the highest sales per square foot in the region, even with limited hours typical of a CBD location. More often than not, these closings had more to do with macro corporate failure or landlord tenant relations rather than micro store performance.
Special events and street activity during the summer workday bring large volumes of pedestrians to the street and past the shops. On a typical summer weekday, 15,000 to 20,000 pedestrians walk past underutilized Main Street storefronts. National studies have indicated that pedestrian volumes over 1,000 people per hour are sufficient to support retail development. Four locations along Main Street meet this standard throughout the entire day.
The Downtown workforce has $100 million of buying power available for retail markets Downtown, only a fourth of which is actually spent there. There is also another estimated $300 million in buying power from residents in and directly adjacent to the CBD and a total of $3.88 billion throughout the City.
Strategies
- Concentrate on existing unmet demands in promotion of retail including worker, Downtown resident, visitor, and inner ring resident markets.
- Seek opportunities to support retailing through incubators and entrepreneurial training.
- Coordinate agency support for retail recruitment and retention.
- Start with local small business that can appreciate peak weekday shopping with limited labor expenses.
- Expand to evenings and weekend retailing consistent with new entertainment and visitor venues as the market and confidence returns to retailing Downtown.
- Develop ac strategy to address the required retail mix related to demand Downtown recognizing that office worker, visitor, resident and inner ring resident markets have different needs.
- Educate landlords about the opportunity to attract and retain tenants.
Shopping Downtown: Action Items
Short Term Policy (6 months to 1 year)
- Develop a multi-agency focus on retail. Increased retail opportunity could provide economic growth for Downtown. Unfortunately, it gets little or no public attention. Many groups working together could unify the community to push for more retail choices in the core.
- Encourage retailers to validate parking. Short-term parking in ramps, lots and at parking meters puts Downtown retailers at a disadvantage when compared to suburban locations with large tracts of free parking. Retailer validated parking would improve customer access to Downtown retail.
- Modify the Downtown Opportunity Zoning District to require first floor retail fronting from Huron Street to Church Street.
Short Term Analysis (6 months to 1 year)
- Conduct a full assessment of existing retail. There is an existing base of retail in Downtown. A study of the type, customer base, merchandise, price range and level of success would expand the knowledge of retail. The results from this study could be used to determine the niche, identify gaps and help market to new retailers.
- Conduct market research of Downtown employees. In 1998, Buffalo Place Inc., along with the GBNRTC and the City of Buffalo, conducted a study to determine demographic and market data about the Downtown worker, including demand for retail goods and services. This study should be updated in 2003.
- Identify available retail space. Currently there is no single source of information about available retail space in Downtown. Data should be collected and housed in one place to facilitate attracting retailers.
- Identify local and national retail prospects. Retailers that are looking to expand publicize their market requirements. Using the retail assessment data, matches can be determined and contacted to consider Downtown Buffalo as a location.
Short Term Implementation (6 months to 1 year)
- Seek ways to improve marketing of Downtown retail. The existing base of retailers does not have a strong marketing program. Working with the existing retailers to develop a marketing plan will strengthen the local market.
- Prepare marketing materials and an education program identifying the retail opportunity. Property owners, realtors, and retailers could use these materials to attract new tenants.
- Develop entry-level retail opportunities. These opportunities can include expanded sidewalk vending, participation in the Farmers Markets, kiosk markets, and a holiday market. These opportunities will help start-up retailers by keeping costs down and will expand the retail opportunity for the Downtown shopper.
- Hold a series of focus groups to determine strategies and opportunities for Downtown retail. A neutral group should host three separate focus groups, one each for realtors and developers, retailers, and economic development agencies and financial institutions. Information collected can help identify current weaknesses and strengths and make recommendations for future action.
- Hold a retail seminar to reinvigorate interest in Downtown retail. Feature a retail development expert. Invite property owners and managers, retailers and others.
Medium Term Implementation (1 to 3 years)
- Explore revolving loan fund for existing retailers. Obtaining financing for expansion and other capital costs is often difficult for small retailers. A well-managed revolving loan fund could provide a source of capital that would be used to support retailers.
- Promote Downtown as an expansion/new market area for local retailers. Due to the limited shopping time, retailers in Downtown have fewer employee and operating expense needs. This is an ideal situation for existing retailers to expand their sales base. Local retailers also understand the market better than national retailers who base location decisions on standard data.
- Develop retail incubation space. Starting a retail venture is risky. Incubation space that provides low rents and support services such as marketing could increase the success rate of start-up businesses.
- Test the market with special programs. Special programs would provide better understanding of the true retail market. Examples of special programs are street fairs, holiday markets and overstock sales.
Long Term Implementation (3 to 5 years)
- Develop a year-round indoor Public Market. The Tuesday and Thursday Downtown Country Markets are great successes that provide additional retail opportunities for shoppers and expand the market for farmers and specialty food vendors. Expanding this into a year-round market will increase shopping opportunities, provide convenience retail for residential populations, and provide retail incubator space. There has been a dramatic increase in public market popularity in the US concurrent with increased interest in living Downtown.
Shopping Downtown: Snapshot
Current Status
Number of Stores by Category
| Bicycle Shop | 1 |
| Bookstores | 3 |
| Confectionery Stores | 1 |
| Cigar Stores | 1 |
| Clothing Stores | 10 |
| Convenience Stores | 3 |
| Eating and Drinking Establishments | 108 |
| Electronics | 1 |
| Florist | 7 |
| Furniture and Household Accessories | 3 |
| Gift Stores | 5 |
| Jewelry Stores | 9 |
| Newsstands | 10 |
| Office Supplies | 1 |
| Pawn Shops | 3 |
| Shoe Stores | 5 |
| Stamp/Coin Shop | 1 |
| Variety Stores | 2 |
| Nutrition Stores | 1 |
- Retail employment in 2000 was 452
- Eating and drinking establishments employment in 2000 was 1,846
- Downtown workers have an unmet retail demand of $75 million
- The city has an unmet retail demand of $307.8 million
Shopping In Brief
Measures of Success
- Increase in Number of Stores by Category
- Increase in Square Feet of Ground Floor Retail Space
- Increase in Retail Employment
- Increase in Employee and Resident Spending Downtown
Top Rules for Shopping Downtown Action Plan
- Do whatever it takes to get space available and ready.
- The quality of retail spaces and pedestrian realm are key to retail success and the "look" of Downtown.
- Identify and incubate the niche markets.
- Build a critical mass of retail in strategic investment areas.
- Perception is reality; address the problems of perception.
- Promote advantages of being a Downtown retailer.
- Promote Downtown as a center for retail for all Downtown neighborhoods.
- Make the case for the importance of retail in Downtown – live, work, and play venues are reinforced by retail opportunities.
- Tap into existing resources to make it happen – SBDC, BNE, BERC, BPI, ESD.
