The above is ad from a New Albany magazine published in April 1945 called, oddly enough, "future". It's an ad from a downtown company promoting and encouraging folks to support downtown businesses.
In order for any downtown to succeed, you have to WANT to go downtown. It's not going to be convenient. It's not going to be your one destination for everything you'll need in the next 12 months. It's not the downtown population in Louisville that makes 4th street live successful, it's the folks from all over the city that want to go downtown, deal with the parking and enjoy being downtown.
The other side of equation is there has to be something downtown for you to do. I believe, thanks to the hard work of people who love this city, Downtown New Albany is really a growing. I fully support Scribner Place, and I'll be one of the first people to sign up at the YMCA once it's opened. I also do not believe Scribner is the "magic wand" that is going to revitalize Downtown. I think downtown is going to revitalize through the folks who want to personally invest in making something happen.
By the time any local government gets involved and offers some real incentives, it will probably be a day late and a dollar short. I think Mike Kopp and the new folks driving DNA have and will do more for downtown revitalization than any coucil member or mayor could.
I'm very fortunate that the business I started on Pearl has so much corporate business that we can be open to the public, but yet not dependent on the local traffic to keep us afloat. It's one more building that isn't vacant.
It's the businesses that need local traffic that need everyone's support.
You have to be intentional about doing business downtown, and yes, I practice what I preach.
First there's benefits to doing business downtown: The people downtown are awesome. It's friendly. You're probably going to be dealing with the owner of almost every company down here. It really is a neat community, and it's a bonus I never thought of when I opened up downtown. It's great to walk down the sidewalk and take time to chat with the folks you've come to know. It gives you a sense of what community is supposed to be like. They say that Walmart's are making small town's disappear. I disagree. I think people just gave up on the businesses that were always there for them for so many years. One of the neat things about reading this 1945 magazine is seeing all the names of downtown companies that are still in business today.
I remember when I first moved to New Albany, I could call Chuck at State Street Hardware and even though it was past closing time, he would wait for me to get there. Try that next time desparately need that plumbing part at Home Depot. From that point on, I purchase everything I can from Chuck. If he doesn't have what I need, then I go right down the street to PC Building Materials. I get something there called service. Knowledgeable service from some really nice folks.
Office Depot has some great sales, and all kinds of cool stuff, but I've made it a point to purchase any office supplies from the Office Supply store on Pearl. The prices are excellent, and there's a really great person behind the counter. In a pinch, I was out of town and my employees needed something but didn't have the company card. They went to the office supply place, explained the situation, and got it on "credit". I'm not saying that's their policy, but it's the policy of good business and looking out for each other. I could imagine the look on the cashier's face at a big chain place if I bought a bunch of stuff and said, "I don't have any money with me, can I pay you later?"
My wife and I have been talking about getting hardwood floors for years, and finally have saved enough money to have one. I guy came into the print shop needing some blueprints scanned in and emailed to him. They had just opened up down the street (on market) and it was a flooring company. I'm very sympathetic to startups, and usually do not charge folks for a while (that will get people running to the shop! I should clarify that you have to be a downtown startup for that perk, and a nice person!). The name of the company is Flooring Solutions, and Greg Knable is the person to see about flooring. We could have gone anywhere for flooring, and we looked at a couple of different places. We might have even saved some money, but it wouldn't be worth it. Actually, the pricing was excellent. In the end I decided that there was only one place that we would purchase our floor from, and that would be a downtown business. I'm glad we did. Greg and the folks at Flooring Solutions are great people, and I love doing business with them. Anytime you can do business with good people you have peace about you purchase.
We just expanded the print shop, and part of the expansion is creating a room where we do fine art reproductions, or Giclees (pronounced gee-clay). We wanted this room to be more of a comfortable living room than an office. An artist will usually spend a 1/2 day with us, and we wanted them to be relaxed and comfortable. We wanted some really nice furniture for this room. My wife went to the new Smiths on Veterens Parkway, and then we went to Ashley over in Louisville where we ate fresh baked cookies and the kids could play video games. It is a very impressive show room and facility. I mentioned all the furniture stores downtown, so we spent a Saturday walking to the furniture stores right down the street. Needless to say, we purchased all of our furniture (she even talked me into a new living room set for the house) right here in Downtown New Albany. I'm probably going to sound like a broken record, but once again it had more to do with who and where I was spending my money with than anything else. The products available downtown are just as equal of those in the big strip malls.
Then there are the restaurants which are growing in number (thanks Roger!). The food is excellent, the service is great, and again, the folks running them are awesome!
I could say similar things for probably every business downtown. If you're not doing business downtown, than you're really missing out. Don't just come down once or twice, come down enough to where you start knowing everyone by name.
Be intentional. If you say you love downtown and want it to become something, than support those that are here. It's like adding water to a new plant. Add a little sunlight, and next thing you know it's a full bloom.
We could follow the advice from an ad from 1945. I bet there would be more of those original businesses around today if people sacrificed convenience for community.
