Small shops a dying breed in downtown College Park

Thursday, Sept. 7, 2006

by Dennis Carter

Staff Writer

As more corporate chains discover downtown College Park, rent is rising, forcing locally owned and operated stores out of the area.

Todd Stewart, owner of independent Vertigo Books in the downtown College Park Shopping Center, said three small businesses have moved out of the center since Vertigo came to the city in 2000.

Stewart’s store is now the lone independent retailer left in the shopping center consisting now of larger chains including Boston Market, Dominos, Radio Shack and Noodles & Co.

College Park Planning Director Terry Schum said the gradual movement of large companies to the city has resulted in landlords raising rental fees for their new corporate tenants.

With locally owned and operated Paperworks Balloons and Gifts closing its doors on Aug. 31 after 21 years in the downtown area – partly due to skyrocketing rent – Stewart said large national chains could drain the city of its character.

‘‘[Nationwide chains] diminish the attraction to a community. If [College Park] is like everywhere else, it can be kind of boring,” said Stewart, a University Park resident. ‘‘Independent retailers are more in tune with the community. They tend to pay attention to what’s going on in the area more than a manager at a chain store would.”

Lisa Holt, owner of Paperworks, echoed Stewart’s sentiment.

‘‘There wouldn’t be as much communication between businesses and city government [if independent retailers continue to leave the city],” said Holt, whose rent would have risen from $4,500 a month to more than $7,000 if Paperworks stayed open. ‘‘It’s sad to think what it is going to do to downtown College Park. It’s either going to be all chains or [independent owners] are going to move in and out. ... I mean, who wants to work this hard just to pay the landlord?”

For Jim Dodson, owner of downtown’s Liberty Books & Comics, knowing his rent will remain stable for the next few years, due to a fixed-rate lease, is reassuring during a time when rental prices are on the rise.

While Dodson could afford a rent increase by 15 percent between 2005 and 2006, he said the same increase would wreak havoc on many small businesses’ bottom line.

Keeping some independent flavor in the downtown area, Dodson said, would avoid the monotony that comes with a city filled with chain stores.

‘‘It’s always nice to see a mix [of small and big business], but of course you’ll always have your stand-bys like Starbucks, CVS and companies like that,” Dodson said.

As larger corporations moved into College Park in recent years, landlords have raised rental prices, making it difficult to stay in College Park for independent tenants who are not locked into a fixed lease rate, said Schum.

‘‘While it’s good that our local market is strong, it is not so good that a lot of pressure is being put on independently operated stores that we’d like to see stay in downtown College Park,” she said.

Holt said the city would lose out if more independent stores look for new homes. In recent years, she said local business owners have worked with College Park officials to organize A Taste of College Park – an annual invite for residents to meet and eat with the City Council – among other events.

Councilman Eric Olson (Dist. 3) said the city could bring more small retail businesses to downtown College Park by creating space for more tenants – a goal established in the city’s redevelopment project. That plan could bring a parking garage to the area and move city hall to Calvert Road to make room for condominiums.

‘‘We want to attract new independent business and retain the independent retailers we already have,” he said. ‘‘A vibrant downtown needs unique stores and independently-run businesses ... and I know it can be a struggle sometimes when they’re competing with larger chain stores.”

E-mail Dennis Carter at dcarter@gazette.net.