Downtown Whitewater’s (DTWW) design committee met today, at 8 AM. DTWW is the publicly-subsidized business-advocacy association for this small city’s center-of-town merchants.
There’s much to be said for design, for the look and feel of a place. In the end, however, there are few more attention-grabbing sights than empty storefronts. (Peeling paint and trash on sidewalks are similarly harmful to commercial success.)
One still sees stores with nothing but empty windows and large for-rent (or sale) signs. No decoration, no displays, just a rental sign, awkwardly positioned in a window.
There’s probably someone who foolishly thinks that merely displaying a large FOR RENT sign makes a shop easier to rent.
It doesn’t.
First, if these signs — alone — worked so well, those vacant shops wouldn’t be crying out for tenants month after month, to no avail.
Second, the empty window space only tells prospective tenants that some landlords in the district are too ignorant to see how debilitating the look of empty space is.
Third, it also tells existing merchants that nearby landlords and agents leaving only signs in their empty windows don’t give a damn about the overall look and feel of the downtown. The sign in a vacant shop may say FOR RENT but the message for the rest of the area is GO TO HELL.
A hundred commercials can’t overcome a prospective merchant’s walk around the block.
Private shops – including empty ones – should be free to decorate as they wish.
They’re not free, however, to assume that most people don’t see and understand the fundamentals of a successful look and feel. One wants this downtown to succeed, but those with property there are going to have to resonate a better understanding.
Emptiness, candidly, is as far from success as one can get.
The Whitewater Arts Alliance is attempting to remedy this: several business-less empty storefronts are being utilized as “Phantom Art Galleries.” Read this in their most recent newsletter.
All to the good – I know that we’ve had some window galleries like this. It’s civic-minded that others would provide art for display.
A landlord, though, should be doing this each and every time for vacant space, or asking for help to do so. Some do, of course – I believe that every property owner should make that effort, as a matter habit when vacancies arise.
Just to clarify the Phantom Art Gallery project is a joint project of Downtown Whitewater, Inc. Design committee and the Whitewater Arts Alliance. This is the second year of this joint project with plans to expand to more empty storefronts. The goal is to have no empty storefronts available for the project but until this happens, efforts will be made to feature the work of local artists while bringing attention to the available space opportunity.
Thanks much for your clarification. My best wishes to all those involved. — Adams