Businesses closures are not unusual
Florescent signs at Kelly’s Gift Place on San Benito Street
announced a huge quitting business sale early in October. A clerk
at the store said this week that Kelly’s will remain open until the
end of December or until inventory is exhausted.
Businesses closures are not unusual
Florescent signs at Kelly’s Gift Place on San Benito Street announced a huge quitting business sale early in October. A clerk at the store said this week that Kelly’s will remain open until the end of December or until inventory is exhausted.
The staff at Kelly’s has lots of company. Walk down the street and storefronts are peppered with “For Lease” and “Going out of Business” signs. With two businesses closing and a third owner hoping to get out of her lease, something is going on in Hollister, but a more careful look reveals a more hopeful larger trend.
According to the Hollister Downtown Association, 12 new businesses opened in the downtown area between July 1, 2007 and June 30 of this year. Ten others closed, but 47 new jobs were created as opposed to 32 lost.
Struggling business owners agree that the problem is twofold – a down economy combined with a lack of interest from local residents.
“With the economy, the gas, people are watching what they spend,” said Tina Curran, co-owner of Home Expressions and Antiques, a home decor store. “I have a store full of items you don’t need.”
Located at the corner of Fourth and San Benito streets, Home Expressions is closing after two years. At 70 percent off, local residents are finally buying, Curran said.
“Probably the most disappointing thing is the people who came in who’ve never been here before,” Curran said. “‘I’ve been meaning to come here for two years,’ they tell me. Well, maybe that’s why I’m not here.”
In the current economy, everyone is suffering, said Brenda Weatherly, executive director of the Hollister Downtown Association.
“I think for some people, it’s a matter of how long they can hold on, keep their business going,” Weatherly said. “It’s cyclical too. This kind of stuff has happened too in years past. I guess what I’m really trying to get across is the sky is not falling.”
Business was really good until about six months ago, Curran said.
“However, 70 percent of my customer base was from out of town,” Curran said. “Hollister does have a lot of tourists.”
Kathryn Funari, owner of Kathryn’s Klassics, a car dealership on Fourth Street, agreed.
“We’ve tried advertising locally, specifically for Hollister and it just doesn’t have the draw,” Funari said. “We tried staying open later and we tried staying open on the weekends. It didn’t seem to make any difference.”
Although many Hollister residents shop outside the county, Hollister is a destination too, said Weatherly of the HDA.
“We’ve got great stores here, and sometimes when we live here we don’t appreciate what we have,” Weatherly said. “People think things are always greener over the county line.”
In September, barely six months after the store’s grand opening, Funari switched from regularly scheduled hours to appointment only.
“I have 14 months left on my lease,” Funari said. “If I could lease it out, I would be happy to do so and remove my inventory from the Hollister location.”
Funari has been selling cars in San Benito County since 1999. Most of her cars are stored in warehouses located in Hollister and San Juan. Visits are by appointment only.
“I tried Hollister with a storefront as a new venue,” Funari said. “I sat there for days and didn’t get any response from customers walking in.”
What people want from a downtown is changing, Weatherly said.
“Who we are as a downtown is changing,” Weatherly said. “I see it becoming more entertainment-based, probably more restaurants. But the other businesses that are here will benefit as well because people are walking around.”
That’s in keeping with a downtown strategic plan developed over the past year by RBF Consulting. The vision there is of a downtown that becomes a destination for arts, dining and entertainment. RBF’s vision, arrived at through a series of public meetings, includes open spaces, destination signage and a mix of housing, and business uses.
Local voters appear to be embracing the idea as well, with the apparent passage last week of Measure Y, which exempts the downtown district from some residential development restrictions.
