Fulton's Brick District Association is working towards increasing business presence in city's Brick District, but another business is closing its doors.
Divine Shoes, which has been open in Fulton for two and a half years has seen a decline in sales, which has forced Owner Dana Johnson-Jennings to slash prices in preparation for closing her store.
"When I opened up this store I didn't know it was going to be so hard," Jennings said. "I feel so bad for all the store owners who try so hard to build the Brick District and another shop is going out of business."
When Divine Shoes opened for business Jennings had the store open until 6 p.m., but enough shoppers weren't stepping in to look. Jennings believes a contributing factor is the lack of interest from teens and young adults.
"There's not enough emphasis with shopping local," Jennings said. "Younger generations don't understand the concept of mom and pop shops because they grew up with stores like Walmart."
Other Brick District store owners agreed.
Caitlin Wentworth, the owner of RCW Gifts of New England on Court Street has been open for seven years and is actually expanding her business to fill the space where Well Read Books once occupied. However, she believes a possible lack of interest from young shoppers is due to a lack of variety in Brick District retail.
"I can see why younger generations wouldn't spend time here," Wentworth said. "We don't have a lot of variety. We need to focus on the whole community."
That's exactly what the Brick District Association is trying to change.
Association President Tom Riley is using events to draw tourists and community members to the Brick District streets such as a "Brick Blast" to welcome back students at William Woods and Westminster in September. Also in the works is the city's annual Autumn on the Bricks and a Burgers and Brats event.
"The more people we can bring down, the more will stop and shop," Riley said. "We want to develop these branded events that will bring people in from the community and tourists as well."
The group's next plan of attack is to advertise its current market using social media and the tourism board to get the word out that business is steadily growing in Fulton, Riley added. They also plan on bringing in new things to do, which was the genesis of the Art House and the group is working on bringing in the Brick District Playhouse, which will replace the old Fulton theatre.
In addition to the association's initiatives, Brian Warren, the owner of Well Read Books and member of the Brick District Association, is working on a task force with Mayor LeRoy Benton to market the Brick District to successful businesses in mid-Missouri.
The task force is working on two different tracks to develop retail in the Brick District - Warren specifically is designing a package containing information about downtown including building vacancies, rental opportunities and what the association has planned. Warren hopes that pitching the package will convince businesses to invest in downtown Fulton.
Riley expects the incentive package will be ready to launch before the end of the year and hopes it brings in the variety Fulton desires.
"We want a mix of restaurants, attractions and businesses like law firms and retail, which will be the core of the Brick District," Riley said. "The type of retail we want are small and eclectic boutiques- anything that has character and brings tourists in, but also has various goods to offer."
However, the association has a lot on their plate when it comes to filling Brick District vacancies. The district, which spans from Sixth Street down to Second Street and from Jefferson Street to Ravine Street, has six vacant store fronts on Court Street alone. Although Riley doesn't have knowledge on how many total vacancies the district has, he says defunct buildings play a role in the matter.
"We need something big that's going to make everyone pay attention," Jennings said.
Other shop owners think some of the first steps in the right direction will require change from the inside out, relying on current businesses in the district to make the area more inviting for the tourists and community members downtown sees when an event isn't scheduled.
Cornerstone Antiques Owner Sharon Vaught has been in business for 26 years and believes a key to her success is rolling with the punches to cater to the younger generations. Since she has opened her doors Vaught has moved from selling antiques to selling items that young adults can repurpose and "upcycle" to create something new.
"The antique business has changed since I started and not as many people are collecting," Vaught said. "You have to change if you don't want to go out of business."
Warren thinks the erratic hours of operation are keeping customers, old and new away from the Brick District and they end up spending money elsewhere.
"I think we all need to be on same page with our hours of operation," Warren said. "All retail merchants are open for just a few hours on Saturday and we're not going to get very far if that remains the case. If we want this to work we have to have a better presence. This will be a big hurdle for us to get over."
"You train your customers on what to expect from you and we've trained them that we're closed on Sundays," Warren added. "Their habits will change if we force them to. I think it's going to take bringing in new businesses who are acclimated to different hours to come in and do it- if we change the culture around here, we can plug into (a system) that's already established."