With Main Street foot traffic eroding on the order of 10% a year, the selectmen were offered a “retail study” that would look at the mix of stores in the village and the potential benefits of bringing a name brand retailer to Ridgefield.
The selectmen were buying.
But they weren’t an easy sell. Their vote to approve a $12,000 contract with Westport-based Saugatuck Commercial Real Estate was 3-2 and came after a long, far-ranging, and at times blunt discussion.
“What we’re looking to do is generate foot traffic for all the merchants,” First Selectman Rudy Marconi told the board.
Bill Craig, owner of Craig’s Fine Jewelry and a member of the Downtown Ridgefield business group, told the selectmen he’d closely tracked the foot traffic at his Main Street store for four years now — and watched a steady decline.
“We’re losing 10% a year in foot traffic through the door,” he said.
He had a theory as to why.
“What I see is because of the selection of stores on Main Street.”
The village no longer has a shoe store, he said, and could use stores like a kids’ clothing retailer, maybe a bridal shop.
“It’s going to affect the businesses of this town. It’s going to affect the property values of this town,” he warned.
Study proposal
The variety of retail shops in town — and how to make the mix more attractive to shoppers — are questions that will now be looked at by Penny Wickey and Laure Aubuchon of Saugatuck Commercial Real Estate Advisors.
“Really look at what’s in Ridgefield and look at other typical towns in Connecticut and what’s there,” Aubuchon told the selectmen. “…An inventory of what’s here, what people would like to see here — a planning perspective.”
“Ridgefield is similar to New Canaan — number three on the ‘gold coast,’ ” said Wickey.
“Can Ridgefield be number four? Or even supplant New Canaan as number three?
“Where are the markets? Where are the holes in the market?” she said. “How do we drive a value proposition?”
Selectman Andy Bodner was skeptical that a $12,000 study would help.
“We’re all committed to downtown Ridgefield,” he said. “We also have to deal with the reality. The reality of the mall, the Internet, the infrastructure Ridgefield has, the traffic and parking…
“It’s a very complicated equation to solve. I’m supportive, but I don’t know how to solve it.”
Landlords!
Barbara Manners, too, had doubts.
“You’ve been losing 10% in traffic a year. How much have you picked up on the Internet?” she asked Craig.
Manners didn’t like the idea of spending $12,000 on a study of questions she regards as the business and responsibility of village landlords.
“A number of years ago we asked Planning and Zoning to consider an ordinance that would not permit anything but retail on ground floors. The landlords were absolutely opposed to it,” she said.
Property owners are short-sighted when they rent prime space to office tenants, she said.
“I don’t think it helps to have real estate agents and insurance agents and banks,” she said.
“I have no interest in subsidizing landlords who are charging $40 a square foot and driving out businesses,” Manners said.
“…I really believe the landlords have a vested interest in this and they need to participate and they need to be invested in this.”
Wickey said that a study laying out the realities and needs faced by the town’s retail community could be the start of a more cooperative effort.
“I think there’s an opportunity to get the landlords re-engaged,” she said.
“I feel we have a role to play,” Manners said. “But I’d like to some demonstration of investment by the landlords.”
“We’ve been speaking to all the landlords we can,” Craig said.
Maureen Kozlark also had some skepticism.
“A lot of this is just putting stuff on websites,” she said, looking over the proposal. “… I’m looking for more meat for my $12,000.”
Wickey said the study would include “demographic analysis” and “retail tenant profiles” and insights on what major retailers look for in a location.
Trader Joe’s
Aubuchon said she’d worked with a town official in another community who’d told her ‘I want a Trader Joe’s’ for his commercial district.
“Everybody wants Trader Joe’s,” she said. “But Trader Joe’s wants ba-bump, ba-bump, ba-bump before they’ll even look at a town.”
“What is phase two?” asked Selectman Di Masters.
“We’d work that out together,” said Aubuchon.
It would depend on what was learned in phase one.
“Do you want us to go out and solicit retailers to come here?” she said.
Wickey said they’d work with the town officials on developing phase two after “we can identify in phase one what the value proposition is.”
Craig, the jewelry store owner, said town officials couldn’t just put the problem off on property owners and merchants. Keeping the downtown vital should be everyone’s priority, he said.
“The landlords, the planning and zoning, the health department — everybody working together is what we need,” he said. “It doesn’t happen in this town.”
He seemed frustrated by the selectmen’s reluctance.
“I’ve been here 65 years,” “If business keeps going down 10% a year, I’ll be gone,” Craig told the selectmen.
“I had nine employees at one point. I’m down to five,” he said. “What’s that do for the tax base? “
In the end Selectmen Marconi, Masters and Kozlark voted in favor of the $12,000 study, while Selectmen Manners and Bodner opposed it.
Craig seemed appreciative, saying the study could be a step toward a goal shared by town officials and the business community — “to have people walking Ridgefield with shopping bags.”
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