Sunday, January 10, 2010
Don't believe the First & Main rumors
Christian Trejbal
Recent columns
- The candidate who almost wasn't
- Christiansburg considers historic preservation
- Plowing the Huckleberry Trail, or not
- The left needs its own Tea Party
From the RoundTable blog
It's time for some rumor control. The December whisperers said several retailers at Blacksburg's First & Main shopping center would close at the start of the new year.
They did not.
Books-A-Million, Steger Creek or Jos. A. Bank -- the three most often mentioned in rumors that found my ears -- might close tomorrow, but for now commerce continues and store employees deny any moves to close.
Like all great rumors, these spread easily because they conformed to what many people already suspected.
The development opened just in time for the economy to go into the tank. Shoppers are not spending like they used to, especially on nonessential, medium- to high-end goods.
Sale signs have plastered many shops' windows at First & Main, a sure sign they are liquidating inventory, according to the rumormongers. Fifty percent off? That's a crazy deep discount.
That such sales are common in December was irrelevant to those who saw only what they wanted.
First & Main faces local economic challenges, too. There is the general malaise that grips Blacksburg commerce on top of project-specific problems. Some heavy hitters never opened. Tenants that would have drawn foot traffic disappeared in clouds of financial worry and litigation.
A Beamer's Steakhouse and a cinema abandoned their plans. So did a Sonic Drive-In and an Arby's. Maybe when the economy turns around they will return, but that could be years off.
Then there was the gorilla, the big-box store town council all but outlawed from the back of the property. The thousands of daily shoppers who seek a Wal-Mart Supercenter must continue down the road to Christiansburg.
Other wounds were self-inflicted. Developers promised a pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly mixed-use development with walking paths and pond. They promised something nice, something special. They promised a destination for shoppers.
They delivered something little different from a typical strip mall. That experience abounds throughout Southwest Virginia.
Another rumor vein suggested that rents had increased to unaffordable levels as first-year incentives evaporated.
Put it all together and it seemed like a logical time for retailers to give up on First & Main. Except there is the inconvenient fact that they have not given up.
Last week, I rushed through the frigid air from store to store. Books-A-Million took orders from customers. Shoppers tried on clothing at Jos. A. Bank. Bargain hunters stocked up on holiday goods for next year at Steger Creek.
Everywhere I asked, store employees and managers assured me they were staying in business. Most of them seemed to be getting tired of being asked about it. I had not been the first person nosing around that afternoon.
The rumors, I suspect, have the greatest appeal for two groups of people who consciously or subconsciously want First & Main to fail.
There are those who seek some sort of karmic balance. The developers and owners of First & Main deserve punishment for inflicting the big-box trauma on the town and for pulling a bait-and-switch with their plans. So, to mix religious metaphors, if their yin reaches out and smacks their yang, it is sweet justice.
Others have more selfish reasons. This is exactly what they predicted when the town blocked the big-box store. They told the hippies this would happen, and when it does, it proves that they are as smart as they like to think they are.
First & Main is far from peaches and cream, but businesses survive. That is all anyone could hope under the circumstances.
Rumors almost certainly will persist and evolve. Maybe stores are waiting for the end of Virginia Tech's school year. Maybe it will be a Sam's Club in Christiansburg that spells doom.
Or maybe everything will be fine. Maybe the stores will struggle through this economic downturn and be rewarded when people start spending again. That, at least, is what everyone should hope. A vacant shopping center would serve no one.
