Marketing aims to help downtown

Pam Marraccini says on top of the country’s economic crisis, she can’t let construction from the Downtown Mall restoration project deal a financial blow to her business.

“We don’t want it to be down for two reasons,” said Marraccini, co-owner of Angelo jewelry store. “One is enough.”

That’s why countering perceptions that the mall will be off-limits during the $7.5 million overhaul must be done through ramped-up marketing, she said.

The project, set to begin in January and finish in May, includes a mall-wide rebricking and adding other amenities such as WiFi and new benches.

But the rough economy has created a conundrum to ensure the Downtown Mall remains a lucrative place for the city — Charlottesville officials are becoming increasingly wary of shelling out funds because of tight budget times ahead, and business owners need all the money they can muster for marketing so their businesses don’t suffer even more.

The City Council agreed earlier this month to allocate $50,000 from the project’s construction account for marketing during the mall’s overhaul, helping to match expenses fronted by downtown stores, restaurants and companies. City staff, however, had recommended that the city match funds of up to $100,000.

Councilor David Brown said he thought that kind of money was just too much to dedicate given the city’s budget situation.

“We’re going to be making tough decisions on the economy,” Brown said.

City officials attest that marketing during construction is necessary — when the Pavilion was constructed and the east end of the mall refurbished in 2005, construction could have substantially hindered merchants from getting their regular day-to-day business — but the need has become more pressing.

“That was pretty disruptive,” Brown said of the previous construction. At that time, the city pitched in $50,000 for advertising and marketing. Businesses, Brown said, are bound to experience some losses between January and May.

Mayor Dave Norris agreed.

“They know full well they’re going to take a big hit financially,” he said.

The city doesn’t want to take its own financial hit as well. Sales tax revenues for the entire city have largely remained stagnant this year.

July was the slowest month of the year, with Charlottesville accruing $738,902 in sales tax revenue, but that number increased to $827,474 in August. But the general feeling among several Downtown Mall business owners is uniform — business is lagging — and this ahead of the mall’s slow season after the holidays.

“It’s very spotty,” said Morgan Perkins, co-owner of the mall’s Sage Moon Gallery.

Half of the $100,000 that city staff requested, pulled from Charlottesville’s Strategic Investment Fund, would be directed toward long-term marketing efforts. But Brown said he thinks councilors reached a consensus and it is unlikely that those funds will be spent.

Regardless of whether the city decides to pitch in more, Downtown Business Association Co-Chairman Bob Stroh said marketing expenses during next year’s renovation will surely exceed $100,000. During the 2005 undertaking, the association spent more than $250,000 on advertisements and other programs to encourage people to visit the area.

“We’re concerned about the entire mall because one [business] impacts the other,” said Perkins, who is on the business association’s board. “Whatever we do has to really reflect and revolve around the entire mall.”

Assistant City Manager Maurice Jones said marketing specifics have not yet been ironed out, but will be in the coming weeks.

Stroh said extra events on the mall and a surge of advertising in local media should be included in the plan. Though the direct impacts of a marketing campaign are nearly impossible to discern, Stroh said that based on past experience the extra efforts should help.

And, Perkins said there’s always the notion that economic woes might provide a different kind of incentive for people to visit the mall during the winter months.

“When bad things happen, it’s time to feel good,” she said.