Q&A: What is Happening to Downtown Delaware Ohio?

What is going on in downtown Delaware? — Kym, Delaware

I’m going to assume that Kym isn’t talking about upcoming events, if she is then I’d say there are a lot of great events coming in downtown Delaware including First Friday coming this Friday night.

But with a lot of Blog traffic coming regarding the status of Avesta Eclectic Cuisine downtown, I’m going to believe that she’s talking about the status of our many downtown businesses.

This is a tough equation to answer. We have a lot of players involved, so let’s meet the players:

“In Powell they are getting …”
- Downtown Building Owner

• Customers – People like you and I that are being wooed by every marketer across the world – including downtown Delaware.
• Business Owners – are doing the wooing and keeping their dreams alive by owning a small-business.
• Building Owners – The people that own these buildings in downtown Delaware and are attempting to keep Delaware’s downtown relevant without losing their own shirts.
• The City – The city is being wooed by large business developers – like Zaremba – and how they handle the small downtown shops will be key.
• Mainstreet Delaware – Things were going good in downtown Delaware, and this organization collapsed upon itself …

There are more people involved at different levels than just these key players, but for brevity we’ll focus on these key players.

So what is happening? A combination of all these factors has come to a head and its causing for a lot of turnover. Looking at each of the closings, you find a different factor that goes into what happened.

For example, Pat’s Records was a victim of changing consumer desires, and is happening to small record shops all over the nation. Even Polaris Fashion Place Mall’s Sam Goody went out during that same time span. Consumers are not buying CDs in the same manner as they did a decade ago, and it has come at the expense of these shops.

There are business owners that missed the boat with their offerings.

The downtown community is also going through a period of gentrification. When vacancy rates fall, building owners attempt to raise rents and get more out of their investments than they did a year ago. This appears to be part of what has happened with Avesta and El Acapulco. I was recently talking to a downtown building owner, and he referenced everything on other areas, saying more than once, “In Powell they charge …” and it is that mentality that is continuing to hurt downtown Delaware. We are Delaware, Ohio. We are not Powell, Westerville, or Clintonville and on that same scale we are not Marion, Tiffin, or other similar county seats that are struggling to keep their downtowns alive right now.

There is a great article in Sunday’s Columbus Dispatch that focuses on the up-tick in downtown Columbus residents. And for every proud new resident there will be at least one that has to leave downtown because of increases in home prices and maintaining the new status. I love to see these “forgotten” areas coming back to life, however it comes with some sadness as long-time residents become displaced.

Where does the blame fall with the city? Well, that depends on who you ask. There are debates about the need for more parking downtown. And the city doesn’t believe it needs to happen. This has become an issue between business and building owners and the city. Is it a problem? Yes and no. However, the “tone” of the discussions has become tense and that can’t help attract business or shoppers to downtown shops. Is parking the real issue? I don’t know but we need better communication between the city and business owners to get this issue resolved.

And to top it off consumers in Delaware are facing an increasing pressure to shop everywhere from downtown, to other county venues, to Marion, to Columbus and beyond. Where does your money go? Gas? That’s right, these downtown businesses are facing the same price increases as other shops. Regular readers know about my love-affair with Trotter’s Coffee Company. But, even my consumption is down, I just can’t justify going as often right now. And I know that I’m not the only one.

Is Downtown Delaware dying?

No. It is at an important cross road as I would expect that the city’s – both government and consumers – will shift away from downtown to the eastside in a year when the first of the Glennwood Commons projects opens. However there is enough room in this town to have a strong and vibrant downtown along with the continued – inevitable – development around town.

Downtown Delaware will survive, but we all need to work together to make it a success.

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