Growing Rossland's Economy - Volume 2: Retail Therapy

Richmond Night Market

This week I’ll explore the idea of bringing even more character animation and vibrancy into our downtown. Over the last few years we’ve seen a few stores close on Columbia and Washington as well as a few new shops open. It seems that, lately, we lose one store for every new store that opens. For whatever reason, our quaint little downtown core seems to have trouble gaining any traction for real growth in either sales or retail square footage.

While not hiring as many people as either Red Mountain, Teck, or Interior Health our downtown retail core is a significant piece of the Rossland economy and one area that doesn’t seem to be performing up to its potential. Our retail and entertainment sector not only employs locals but has direct and indirect benefits for the entire city as well as other pieces of the economic picture. The small scale 'cuteness' factor, walkability and proximity to skiing, golf, biking and other outdoor pursuits of the downtown retail core directly affect and support the tourism economy in town. For many of those same reasons our downtown is also a major attractant in bringing new residents to town.

Without a doubt a big piece of Rossland’s economy takes place along Columbia Ave and Washington Street, and perhaps the health of our downtown strip is as good an indicator of Rossland’s economy as any other.

Growing the profitability of these businesses, as well as their overall square footage, could be a key piece in moving Rossland’s economy onward and upward. Business owners have certainly been trying to do this. If the downtown thrives, residents would enjoy a greater array of local shops and a wider offering of services that would certainly benefit us all and perhaps draw additional tourists as well. I suspect there is a certain tipping point out there as well where things get exponentially better. That point of having the volume and wide enough array of shops so that people no longer have to leave Rossland for shopping would see that exponential growth happen. Part of the cure lies in not just attracting new people to come here and spend but getting people already here to spend locally and spend more.

The million dollar question remains, however. How to do it? Do you take the 'if you build it, they will come' approach and construct a string of new attractive features and shops? Do you market the heck out of the city, hope to attract new customers, and then grow the shops? Do you perhaps create tax or other incentives to do both? You could do some, all of or a few of those options and expend a lot of dollars and effort, but I suggest there may be some easier and inexpensive ways at hand to right the retail ship.

When I think about when I’ve spent the most time downtown, had the most fun, seen the most people around and spent the most money, these times had one thing in common: they've been during one of the great events we hold. Simply put, when the downtown is buzzing, happening and vibrant it becomes that much more of a magnet for locals, tourists, shoppers and dollars. The best example of all may have been this year’s Winter Carnival weekend. The outdoor ice bar, a few sidewalk vendors, live music and more all made Columbia Avenue the place the be. I’d wager that was one of the best weekends of the year for the downtown shops. The energy that weekend was electric, and it was hard not to have a smile on your face, a drink in hand, a hotdog in your mouth and probably a re-usable shopping bag along for the ride.

The post-Carnival hangover, however, was evident the following morning when the streets once again went quiet. Keeping that energy going in some fashion or another would almost certainly help the shops downtown.

How, then, do we create more animation and vibrancy in our downtown core? Another question as well is how can we extend and grow the shopping and spending period. Right now our downtown largely closes up shop at 6:00 P.M. One suggestion that’s been stirring around in my head for a while has been the idea of an evening/night market. Such a market could be placed smack dab in the middle of our otherwise deadsville downtown on, say Saturday night between 6:00 and 9:00 P.M. We’ve already got the Saturday morning farmers' market which is a great addition to the city. I’d like to take that idea or a similar idea and turn up the volume a few notches--and bring it into prime time.

Some of the better examples out there are the Richmond night market and of course the Granville Island market, both of which turn retailing into an experience as well as an event. There are other examples out there of summer night markets, so maybe Rossland could find its own niche with a winter night market, see how that goes, and perhaps expand into the summer/spring/fall.

With a bit of effort and perhaps a small injection of cash from the city (or possibly more appropriately, the Chamber of Commerce) Saturday nights could become a great entertainment and retailing experience here in the Golden City. Perhaps a flea market-style of funding could be another method of approaching it, whereby the shops that directly benefit along Columbia could put some money into a pot to pull off the event. The money needed for the market itself is minimal and essentially is used to provide the hooks to draw the crowd.

It could start as simply as having a few outdoor buskers along the sidewalk and perhaps a main stage next to Ross Vegas and the Credit Union now that we have an outdoor stage in town at our disposal. Placing buskers at opposite ends of Columbia, perhaps one in Harry Lefevre Square, another up by the Legion on Washington and another in front of the Library and a few local live bands at the central main stage would provide the hook to get people downtown. That’s largely where the cash costs end: in hiring a few bands and setting up the AV system. Spacing out the buskers gives folks an incentive to walk and shop the full length of Columbia rather than the central block that typically sees the most action.

Bringing some entertainment into the mix provides the hook to get people downtown. Imagine all along Columbia Avenue and Washington Street the sidewalk turning into a four block long outdoor market? The restaurants could have some outdoor tables and maybe a propane heater or two: Drift, The Red Room, The Eagles and The Legion and such could perhaps have miniature beverage gardens in front of their doors; the retail shops and restaurants could all have little sampler booths or clothes racks out front, drawing people in; and among it all set up some tables for local artisans and crafters. Each store can contribute to the entertainment and experience in their own ways related to their own offerings. Maybe Delicious has a children's entertainer out front; perhaps Ferraro’s does some live cooking displays; one of the spas could offer short teaser massages outside. And so on.

Such a night market would be a big draw not only to get locals out, but to draw tourists up the hill from Trail, Castlegar and perhaps even Grand Forks. We might even reverse the local trend to of leave town to spend on the weekends.

Our downtown is a beautiful example of a compact, walk-able core with most of the essentials for such a venture already in place. Adding a bit more vibrancy and energy into that mix and turning retailing into a real experience could indeed crank up the volume--and not just of the music but volume of sales and perhaps volume of shops and businesses downtown. Such a trend would inevitably produce positive spinoffs into all other areas of town. Some may say, 'why focus solely on the retail sector or on downtown alone?'.
Well, as they say where I grew up, 'A high tide lifts all boats'.