Several days ago, the Chronicle‘s Mason Lerner reported that the promise by light-rail boosters of increased foot traffic and untold commercial possibilities hasn’t worked out so well for one business on Main:
In its 50 years downtown, Wheeler Watch Clinic has survived three moves and changed generations once — major feats for any small business.
But its owners say the threat to its business by Houston’s light rail is a new challenge that’s getting hard to take.
“We were doing really well before the train came along,” said John Galvan, who with his three brothers has taken charge of the business founded by their father, Richard Galvan Sr. “We still get business, but we don’t have the volume that we used to.”
Galvan did not want to disclose his store’s revenue, but he estimated that it is down by about a third since the train started running by in 2004.
He attributed this to the fact that the train has decreased foot traffic passing by the store and made it much harder for drivers to park nearby.
Galvan explained that the only way drivers coming from the west side of town can reach the store is by using cross streets several blocks away.
“People used to come and see me from all over the city,” he said. “Now it’s more difficult for them to get here, so we are losing them all.”
To “balance” the story, the reporter found a University of Houston intellectual who thinks the problems are easily solved. James Evans, the director of the University of Houston Small Business Development Center within its prestigious Bauer College of Business Administration, advises the following:
[Evans] suggested that the business deal with the decrease in customer traffic by focusing on new residential developments in the downtown and Midtown areas nearby.
“They have to market to those people,” he said. “They have to make colorful, attention-grabbing fliers and distribute them throughout the neighborhood.”
Colorful fliers! It’s so obvious, yet so elusive. We hope the Galvans are paying attention to that cutting-edge business advice from Houston’s university.
We thought perhaps METRO’s Sit and Spin blog might comment on the story, but apparently the site has simply become a daily press-release depository.
BLOGVERSATION: METRO Is Full Of Crap, This Blog Is Full Of Crap.
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