East Liberty Street has become known for its transient tenants, with about 10 businesses leaving the street in the last two years. Though the vacancies open up opportunities for other ventures, many do not stand the test of time, often closing after a year or less in business.
Despite recent closures of Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and The Grand Traverse Pie Company, Business Prof. Tom Kinnear, director of the Zell and Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies, said business on the downtown street is not in total despair.
“Retail is the easiest business to get into and the easiest business to get out of, so turn is the natural order of business, with exceptions: Some places stay with great stability,” Kinnnear said.
Kinnear said East Liberty is “prospering” near North Division Street and North Fifth Avenue, with restaurants like Mani Oysteria and Tios. He added that the neighborhood from the Google complex to E. Liberty at State Street has “quite a bit of stability,” with the exception of the block near the space that was once occupied by Borders which is still largely unoccupied.
Kinnear said in the past 25 years, about 10 restaurants have occupied the space on the corner of State and East Liberty streets, where Chipotle Mexican Grill is now. Though it seems as though East Liberty may have a extremely high turnover, he said this is an example of how the storefronts changing occupancy is part of the “natural churn of business.”
Restaurants in that area cater more toward the employees working in area offices than students on campus. Kinnear added that overall, East Liberty is “not a high foot-traffic street” because “there isn’t any reason to wander down there now.”
Businesses that are most successful on the block are destination businesses, which people seek out for a specific product or cuisine and have historically lined the streets and filled the storefronts. The law of retail gravitation explains how big anchor stores draw customers — like a gravitational pull — to other shopping locations, Kinnear said. He explained that is why shopping centers and malls always have large chain retail stores, like Nordstrom and Macy’s.
“Borders was a big loss in that regard,” Kinnear said. “For the most part, it’s fairly minor disruption that’s going on.”
Kinnear added that “retail can be the difference between massive foot traffic and very little.”
Though there are some retail spaces, none of the storefronts are boarded up, which indicates that the street is not devastated, Kinnear said. Further down the East Liberty block, toward Main Street, most of the storefronts are filled, since those businesses cater to the reliable customer base of business professionals.
Kinnear compared the situation on East Liberty to the nature of business on South University Avenue. Foot traffic patterns on South University have fluctuated over the past 20 years as the street has also lost main-attraction stores. However, high-rise apartment buildings, such as Landmark and Zaragon Place, have increased the foot traffic on South University as students walk to classes on Central Campus.
Justin Hana, general manager at Tropical Smoothie Café — which opened on East Liberty near Maynard Street in September 2012 — said foot traffic in the area is slow.
“Most (students) stay more towards campus because they have no reason to come out this way,” Hanna said.
Hanna said customers sometimes stop by his restaurant on their way to Main Street. He hopes as the weather gets warmer, foot traffic in his store will increase.
He referred to the myth on the block is that the strip is “cursed” because not a lot of students shop in that area.
“They don’t want to do the extra walking, especially when it’s cold out,” Hanna said. “We’re here to stay.”
Alyssa Tangney, manager of the Douglas J. Salon on East Liberty near Thompson Street, said she has not noticed a decrease in foot traffic and her business has been steady.
Tangney added that her salon attracts a wide customer base from students to families to professionals who are not necessarily from the immediate area.
Bill McClelland, owner of Encore Records — located on East Liberty near Thompson Street — said the past two businesses that have occupied the space next to his store closed within a year of opening. McClelland has been with Encore Records since it opened in 1989 and said he has seen the block transform over the years. He added that there is an increase in coffee shops and restaurants, which sometimes make the block look like “a mall food court.”
“I’m nostalgic for the time when there were more bookstores and more music stores,” McClelland said. “It had more character; it seems like it’s a little more sterile than it used to be. There are not a lot of mercantile business where people sell things other than food.”
McClelland said his store attracts an “alternative crowd,” whereas Borders attracted a “loyal” customer base that extended down the block. He added that parking has been a barrier to entry for some customers who are reluctant to pay for it and can’t find street spots.
“That, to some people, is a deal breaker.”