King Plaza shopping center near the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Way South and South Othello Street sits directly in front of the future Othello light rail station. The parking lot would normally be packed at this time of year, but these days there are lots of empty spaces.
Tammy's Bakery still abounds with colorful, decorated cakes as well as every imaginable Asian delight from spring rolls to bubble teas, but the customer queues aren't as long in front of the counter this year. Irresistible aromas still waft through the doorway of Seattle Chinese Herbs across the street, but not as many people open the door these days. In fact, there are several vacant storefronts in this popular commercial complex previously filled to the gills.
Looking out over his balcony upstairs office, Jaime Garcia of the Community Development Fund (CDF) views the cause of this decline: bulldozers the size of dinosaurs crawl about and gobble up the streets. A maze of huge concrete barriers and a chaotic network of yellow tape render access to the parking lot and sidewalks formidable, if not impossible.
Despite $7.2 million in mitigation funds - the CDF has paid out to a total of 119 businesses along the future light rail line - many storekeepers express pessimism. Their concern is justified in Garcia's statistics that reflect an average 32 percent decrease in sales compared with previous holiday seasons for 274 businesses along the light rail alignment.
According to Garcia and others, such as the Rainier Valley Chamber of Commerce, a lot more must be done to help.
"We need these businesses to succeed," Garcia said.
He points out that, in 2009 when the light rail is up and running, the affected restaurants, bakeries, print shops, etc. will be needed to help get people out of their cars and onto the trains. Making sure that the 1,000-2,000 daily commuters will be able to fulfill their shopping and other business needs in close proximity to the station will be crucial to the success of this new transportation system.
A unified approach
Rainier Valley Chamber of Commerce Manager Tiffany Crosby asserted that help is on the way in the form of a cooperative business-marketing program they have developed for the Rainier Valley with a grant from the city of Seattle. In the program, a participating business can have its own website and online video commercial. Additionally, each business district can be supplied with its own neighborhood newsletter by simply supplying the text of a few articles, which will be entered into a template for them.
The scheme also includes a customer loyalty card to allow Rainier Valley residents to get a discount or other added value if they shop in local stores.
"The idea is to create a mentality of shopping in the Rainier Valley," said the marketing program's system developer, Curtis Brown. "We want to foster a spirit of cooperation, not competition."
For instance, Brown said if a group of stores could advertise together, promoting their various products and locations, people can find out which local businesses provide the products and services they need. Everyone benefits.
According to Brown, the idea behind the program comes from well-known visionary, Dee Hok, author of The Chaotic Age and founder of Visa International. More recently, Hok has been promoting systems to tie communities together and keep more business within a local community.
The program is still in its infancy, but the rudiments of infrastructure can be viewed at www.rainiervalleypassport.com. Scheduled for launch this coming spring, there is a concerted effort now to encourage as many businesses as possible to participate. Brown hopes to begin with at least 50 businesses on line.
At the time of this writing, the new marketing program had gained little awareness in the business community. When asked whether they anticipate any advertising assistance, storekeepers in King Plaza point to a brochure circulated by Sound Transit picturing the plaza's gabled sign and neon-lighted artificial palm trees in the mirror of a car. The caption touts the Plaza as a "closer than you think . . . one stop shopping center."
Farther south on Henderson Street, Vince Mottola, manager of Vince's Restaurant, has heard about the cooperative marketing program. He said he believes it has possibilities, but he, "hasn't fully evaluated it." Chiropractor David Butters to the north is enthusiastic.
"I think what the Chamber is trying to do is noble," said Butters. "It will help to keep business within the community."
Healthy skepticism
Julie Duong, Tammy's Bakery assistant manager, acknowledged the benefits of advertising but is dubious about a local cooperative advertising campaign among competing businesses.
"The most important action that needs to be taken is raising customers' awareness, not only those in the immediate vicinity, but those in the surrounding cities as well," said Duong. "Tammy's Bakery serves clients as far south as Tacoma and as far north as Shoreline. The Plaza is a popular destination for the Asian demographic."
Echoing Duong's assertions, David Chen, vice president of Asia First Real Estate, owner of King Plaza, attributed loss of business mostly to one factor, reduced car traffic. He sighted the 2003 CDF statistic indicating that 12,000 cars passed weekly. As it stands this year, that number has been reduced to 7,000.
When asked whether the expected thousands of pedestrians walking to catch the future light rail line will make a difference, storekeepers were skeptical. Dan Au, owner of King Plaza's Arctic Press, does not believe there will be increased foot traffic from light rail. In fact, he thinks taxpayer money is being wasted on light rail because he feels it will only be used by the elderly and the disabled.
"American families have three cars," Au said. "Why would they go by train?"
Au is planning to take the civil service exam in hopes of working in the post office, so he might have an alternative option to secure his family in later years.
Although not as skeptical as Au, other Rainier Valley merchants suggested lower tech solutions to increasing customer traffic along the light rail route. Jay Kwong of Seattle Chinese Herbs suggested that there should be signage leading from Martin Luther King Jr. Way South into the Plaza.
Duong said efforts should be made to raise customer awareness about the traffic situation. For instance, she pointed out that customers don't even know that the Plaza can be accessed from South Othello Street by the back entrance.
Reaching out to diversity
Garcia asserted that both customer and business awareness needs to be raised through cross-cultural communication.
"These businesses need to understand cross cultural marketing," Garcia asserted.
Garcia maintained that King Plaza businesses would not have to wait until light rail opens in 2009 for a good supply of pedestrian customers. He noted that business owners could begin to attract pedestrians from New Holly to the west and Brighton to the east, if they would concern themselves with the expectations and needs of this potential market. Garcia suggested that small changes in ambience and merchandise could bring in pedestrian customers on weekends and for evening strolls come spring.
Employees would also have to greet customers in a friendly way and not seem aloof if a language barrier exists. He acknowledged that this would require a substantial shift in attitude for both the neighbors and the shopkeepers. Businesses would have to stop viewing their customer base as strictly automobile bound. Neighbors would have to learn to appreciate the plaza's unique character, which resembles an authentic Asian market.
"You can visit a foreign country and not leave home," Garcia said. "When I enter the Chinese herb store I feel like I'm in Hong Kong."
Garcia admitted that some businesses along the alignment have already demonstrated significant awareness of cross-cultural marketing. The Viet Wah, for example, has a wide variety of both Asian as well as cross-cultural merchandise. Platinum Plush is a clothing store that markets through a number of resources such as the internet, home fares, and music festivals. Garcia also pointed out that it would help to have a larger anchor store nearby a shopping center to initially attract customers.
Responses to a recent neighborhood questionnaire support Garcia's assertion of the need for cross-cultural education. To the question of whether they shop at local businesses and why or why not, following were typical entries: "Little knowledge of ethnic offerings at some businesses," "because of lower prices or convenience elsewhere (King Plaza prices are very low)," "I need to learn the neighborhood stores," "the coffee shops don't have decaf or fat free milk," "televisions in restaurants are often too loud. I like to converse with friends while I eat."
Sizing up such a complex problem, Brown added that the chamber's marketing program could involve focus groups to promote cross-cultural communication. Ultimately, only trial and error will shake out which tactics truly work to retain and grow the businesses slammed by the impact of light rail.
Mona Lee may be reached via editor@sdistrictjournal.com.[[In-content Ad]]
