Downtown Businesses to Citizens: Now Is the Time

Owners and managers of downtown shops, restaurants, and services have a clear message for the people of East Lansing: We want you!

Yes, they acknowledge, there are a lot of detour signs and dust, and the parking patterns are unfamiliar. But, they say, there’s also plenty you can do downtown that makes it worth it: enjoy a meal or cocktails with friends, shop for delightful gifts and housewares, get yourself some new spring duds (including shoes and jewelry), visit galleries and the Broad Art Museum, brunch with the family, splurge on art supplies to get you through to spring, grab a cup of coffee and walk around to find out what you may have been missing.

To see how things are going for downtown businesses during the ongoing construction – with more road closures scheduled in coming weeks – we asked owners and managers for their input. We conducted an online survey, so that responses could be submitted anonymously, and also spoke with business owners.

Here’s a summary of a whole lot of feedback:

Once there are more people living downtown, things will probably get better. Business owners are excited about having thousands more people living downtown. Said one retail businessperson, “Increasing the residential density downtown has taken way too long. Having more residents within walking distance of our business will be a huge asset.”

Others named the addition of The Graduate Hotel, coming with the DRW Convexity project next to Peoples Church, as a likely boost to business and some said that new businesses like Blue Owl Coffee will help bring a new crowd downtown.

Below: Blue Owl on opening night.

But, respondents note, redevelopment downtown will also probably mean increases in rents, which could make it hard on businesses whose profit margins have depended on lower rents. And at least for now, previously regular customers have disappeared.

Said one respondent, “When the roads were reduced because of construction, many people decided to avoid the hassle altogether. They haven’t come back.”

The downturn shows in the bottom lines. Respondents describe profit decreases up to 40 percent, with no one indicating a rise in profits during construction. Some are not sure they can hold on much longer – Grove Gallery has now closed – and they wish the City would understand the urgency and would take significant measures, like making all parking free for the first hour.

What’s caused the downturn? One restaurant owner put it succinctly: “Lack of surface area parking and construction phobia.”

Said another, “People simply do not like parking structures compared to flat lots.”

Those businesses that have made it so far say that’s been possible because, in the words of one owner, “our loyal customers have made extra effort to support us.”

Recent advertising organized by the City is working. On average, shopkeepers and restaurant owners tell us that advertising campaigns of late, organized by the City, have been helping to drum up interest in urban life downtown. Some say free-parking vouchers have also helped. Many share this sentiment about City staff: “I think they are aware [of the problems] and sympathetic.”

There is parking, but customers don’t like the options. A lot of people liked Lot 1 and simply don’t want to deal with the alternatives, especially parking garages. (Confused about where to park? Read our companion report on where to park.) Some owners and managers think it’s going to take something major – like free parking for the first hour – to help customers embrace the new parking reality in East Lansing.

Said one longtime downtown shop owner, “People are creatures of habit and customers were really rattled having their tried and true parking gone. ... The tangle of closed roads and inadequate signage for one-way streets, etc., was a huge frustration for everyone driving into town.”

Many believe the signage downtown for parking is really ineffective. They want bigger, simpler, more graphically compelling parking signs. And many want parking downtown to be free for the first hour, full-stop, until business picks back up.

Council Members don’t seem to “get it.” Many respondents told us that they feel like City Council Members simply don’t understand how hard it is to keep a business going, because they’ve never “signed the front of a paycheck.” They say Council Members don’t know what it’s like to deal with the heavy regulation, uncertainty, and drastic fluctuations in business over the year and over the years.

Many describe being exhausted by dealing with the City. Asked what they wished City leaders understood about their situations, one business owner said, “The magnitude of the pressure of owning and operating a small business.”

MSU merchandise sales have fallen. Places that have relied on selling a lot of Spartan paraphernalia are struggling, as MSU has been mired in controversy.

Construction workers don’t make up for what construction costs. When he was selling City Council on the idea of the Center City District project, lead developer Mark Bell of Harbor Bay said that construction workers would help make up for business losses by eating and drinking downtown and buying gifts at local shops. That hasn’t happened, as workers have brought their own lunches and saved their money. (Local business owners don’t criticize them for that; they get it.)

Construction traffic is taxing. It isn’t just the lane closures; it’s also the trucks getting in the way of businesses and traffic flow. Construction trucks have damaged the walls of businesses bordering the alley behind Grand River Avenue, and have rained down concrete in small droplets. For several business owners, it feels like adding insult to injury to have their customers made to yield over and over again to the needs of Center City’s developers.

Said one shop owner, “The streets are dirty and getting cracked from heavy truck use, and more construction signs may only scare off more customers.”

There’s a sense some are favored over others. Several business owners expressed frustration with the sense that the City Council plays favorites – for example, leasing Lot 1 for the Center City District project to Harbor Bay and Ballein Management without doing an open call for proposals for that lot.

They describe a sense that new businesses moving into the big new redevelopments are given an easier time than longtime businesses, because those new businesses are seen as “progress” and the older businesses represent the past. They want the kind of enthusiastic help they see new businesses getting.

Now is the time. Business owners and managers were all clear in their responses to our questions about downtown: They believe they have great products and services to offer. They are proud to be part of East Lansing. And they want their customers to feel well served and appreciated, and to feel like downtown is a great place to support local businesses.

Not sure what’s available downtown? Check out this dedicated site, hosted by the City. On the left side, click on the options for places to eat, services, shopping, art galleries, and more. Not sure where to park? See our report.

And if you spend this weekend downtown, do us a favor and write to tell us what you enjoyed. Click here, and choose “message to Community editor” as the “category.” We will collect reader responses and share them.