I was talking to another merchant who asked me if I thought downtown Bend's Wall Street really gets so much more business than the rest of us.
Answer is: I don't know.
I'm guessing, however, that they do indeed get a lot more foot traffic. Linda and I walked around downtown this afternoon, and the flow was definitely heavier on Wall.
They also don't seem to have as much turnover as the rest of downtown.
My assumption is; the rents are at their peak on Wall Street, but so are the returns. Let's say 100%.
Go off the beaten track just a little, say Oregon and Minnesota streets, and maybe the rents drop slightly (if at all) but the return is probably more like 85%. So we're paying very close to full peak rent, say 95% but getting 85% the return. Go even further out, and the rents only drop a little more, say to 90%, while the return probably drops to more like 75% and so on.
In other words, in my opinion, the rents are a little off kilter. Landlords want the going rate, and the going rate is Wall Street or slightly below. But the returns aren't equal.
Which is why, I think, you see slightly more turnover the further away from Wall Street.
Like I said, I can't really prove any of this, it's just a sense I get.
So, yes, if I was starting a business from scratch, and there was a likely looking location on Wall Street, I'd take it.
It wouldn't make much sense for me to do it now. I've been in the same location for so long, and the store is so packed, that any improvement (the above 10% improvement) would be more than offset over the short and medium time-frame by the customers I'd lose and the costs of moving. Plus paying a higher rate right off the bat while I'm trying to re-establish myself.
Besides -- from my long-term perspective -- the amount of foot-traffic I'm now getting is a bit of a miracle -- considering for most of my career we didn't get much of any. So it's a vast improvement, from my perspective.
Ironically, Wall Street can seem almost too busy. The traffic is kind of heavy. But that smacks of the old Yogi Berra saying, "No one goes there anymore...it's too busy."
I'm sure they are slow plenty of times. If it was too busy, I'm sure I'd get over it by counting my money in the register at the end of the day.
Answer is: I don't know.
I'm guessing, however, that they do indeed get a lot more foot traffic. Linda and I walked around downtown this afternoon, and the flow was definitely heavier on Wall.
They also don't seem to have as much turnover as the rest of downtown.
My assumption is; the rents are at their peak on Wall Street, but so are the returns. Let's say 100%.
Go off the beaten track just a little, say Oregon and Minnesota streets, and maybe the rents drop slightly (if at all) but the return is probably more like 85%. So we're paying very close to full peak rent, say 95% but getting 85% the return. Go even further out, and the rents only drop a little more, say to 90%, while the return probably drops to more like 75% and so on.
In other words, in my opinion, the rents are a little off kilter. Landlords want the going rate, and the going rate is Wall Street or slightly below. But the returns aren't equal.
Which is why, I think, you see slightly more turnover the further away from Wall Street.
Like I said, I can't really prove any of this, it's just a sense I get.
So, yes, if I was starting a business from scratch, and there was a likely looking location on Wall Street, I'd take it.
It wouldn't make much sense for me to do it now. I've been in the same location for so long, and the store is so packed, that any improvement (the above 10% improvement) would be more than offset over the short and medium time-frame by the customers I'd lose and the costs of moving. Plus paying a higher rate right off the bat while I'm trying to re-establish myself.
Besides -- from my long-term perspective -- the amount of foot-traffic I'm now getting is a bit of a miracle -- considering for most of my career we didn't get much of any. So it's a vast improvement, from my perspective.
Ironically, Wall Street can seem almost too busy. The traffic is kind of heavy. But that smacks of the old Yogi Berra saying, "No one goes there anymore...it's too busy."
I'm sure they are slow plenty of times. If it was too busy, I'm sure I'd get over it by counting my money in the register at the end of the day.