No Finer Place | MetroWest downtown merchants band together to plan for recovery

Downtown districts were facing serious challenges even before the economy collapsed, and MetroWest's downtowns were not immune to the pressure.

Recently, MetroWest495 Biz visited downtowns in Hudson, Maynard and Natick to learn how businesses there are coping with a slowly recovering economy and competition from some very large competitors. We also asked downtown business owners what they expect for the future of their quaint but ever-changing homes.

Casually dressed in khakis for a day at the family business, D.J. Collins is unassuming as she sits at the board table of the newly renovated Hudson Appliance Center building on Main Street.

Then, the 39-year-old blonde-haired woman starts speaking, quietly at first, but with a focus that makes you listen. She shares a message she started spreading a year ago, one she says has been lost in the decade since the Solomon Pond Mall arrived in nearby Marlborough: it's time for shoppers to return to downtown Hudson.

Collins, a member of the Hudson Business Association, suggested adding the "Buy Local," campaign a year ago to compliment the group's work trying to fill downtown properties.

"We by far give more to the community than the big-box stores and I know that runs true for all the businesses on Main Street," said Collins, a Hudson resident whose father, Arthur Redding, founded Hudson Appliance Center over 30 years ago.

The Hudson Business Association was founded in 2008 to fill the empty buildings along Main Street in Hudson, a stretch of Route 62 that runs along the Assabet River. Now three dozen members strong, the Hudson Business Association hopes the "Buy Local" campaign and its efforts bring the area out of the economic slowdown.

All over MetroWest, downtowns and merchants are trying to spring back from recession. And they're looking to downtown associations and other community groups with active summer calendars for help.

Empty Storefronts
While outside Hudson Art & Framing on a cold morning, Lorene Jean stood under white and gray skies and waved at several "For Lease" signs in buildings across the rotary.

"I grew up in Hudson so I can remember Hudson in all its different forms," Jean said. "I've had my business for 18 years. Just three or four years ago, Hudson was thriving. All the storefronts were filled."

This community fell victim to attention because of its low real estate prices, said Sarah Cressy, executive director of the Assabet Chamber of Commerce. Outside property owners came in and purchased buildings, made millions of dollars in investments and raised rents, she said.

"Generally rental rates just got higher...It's really Economics 101," Cressy said. "But now rents are starting to come down again."

Jean described most of the businesses that remain downtown as "holding on. It's not a flourishing economic climate."

The Hudson Business Association has been working to attract businesses downtown through weekly advertisements in local newspapers showcasing available properties. It also hosts monthly lunch meetings for members to exchange ideas.

So far, the outreach has brought in several new businesses, including Giggi Boutique, a bridal shop, and Hudson Roast Beef & Wing, Collins said. The organization has also found six tenants in recent months for upper floor spaces not visible to the public, she said.

The group's next project is to seek funding for a parking garage, Collins said.

At Hudson Art & Framing, Jean, a member of the business organization, said the group's work makes her hopeful.

"Hudson's a great town," she said. "It's very diverse. It's wonderful. I absolutely believe the downtown will survive and flourish again. I have no doubt."

Fortunate Maynard
Visit downtown Maynard during lunch hour and you will see doors swing open at restaurants like Siam Village Thai Cuisine and Pizza Express.

But that doesn't mean downtown Maynard is doing well these days, said H. Thomas Babaian, a certified public accountant whose office is across from the Maynard Police Station. With several empty storefronts downtown, most notably the empty CVS Pharmacy space, Babaian said the downtown looked much better a few years ago.

"It's worse, there's no doubt about that," Babaian said. "There's a lot of empties."

Though the exact number is unknown, Maynard is believed to now employ at least a couple thousand employees at Clock Tower Place, a sprawling downtown mill best known as the longtime home of the former Digital Equipment Co. The computer manufacturer and its employees pumped business into downtown Maynard throughout the early 1990s.

The property is currently owned by Wellesley/Rosewood Maynard Mills, which has a Tax Increment Financing agreement with the town providing a 15-year property tax reduction and tax credits for tenants of the 13 buildings.

While the property has attracted a number of successful start-ups such as Monster.com over the years, several business owners interviewed agree that business from mill employees dropped significantly last year.

But at the Maynard Outdoor Store, owner Amy Cao, is optimistic.

"I would say business has improved from a year ago," said Cao, who is celebrating her store's 60th year in business. However, "Last year was a terrible year," she said.

Cao said she believes the increase at her business is coming from mill employees because foot traffic and sales are picking up during lunch hour and as the office day ends.

At the Assabet Valley Chamber of Commerce, Cressy said Maynard is different than Hudson and other communities along Interstate 495 because it doesn't sit near any major shopping area. She said this has helped merchants like the Maynard Outdoor Store and The Paper Store to survive.

"Maynard is a real different sort of animal, primarily because it is not in close proximity to any major mall," Cressy said. "Maynard has been really fortunate to maintain a lot of major retail."

The town also benefits from strong community organizations that bring people downtown on a consistent basis, even though they do not offer the large scale downtown fairs some communities host with the strong outreach, Cressy said. The Maynard Public Library's calendar has a steady following, she said, along with the Maynard Community Band, which performs downtown on Wednesday night.

Recently, Cressy said there was discussion at a meeting about hosting a large spring event downtown to increase business for merchants.

‘Service-Oriented' Natick
Empty storefronts aren't the problem in downtown Natick. A toy store is expected to move into the lone vacant space soon, which businesses say will be a nice complement to the existing mix of restaurants, yoga studios, banks, wallpaper stores, insurance companies and pharmacies.

Along with a prime location along Rte. 135, Natick's downtown benefits from large employers like Middlesex Savings Bank and the Town of Natick, which has the Town Hall, the Morse Institute Library and the police and fire departments based on East Central Street.

"Most of the businesses downtown that survive are insurance companies, banks, pharmacies," said Richard Peristere, a lifelong Natick resident who owns Jones Drug on Main Street. "It's a service-oriented downtown."

Like many downtowns, Natick has struggled with how to handle traffic created by these businesses.

Downtown business employees are supposed to park in the Middlesex Avenue garage to alleviate the parking crunch, said Arthur B. Fair, president of Fair & Yeager Insurance on Main Street and president of Natick Center Associates, the town's nonprofit business group.

Many parking spaces were closed in January 2006 when a portion of the garage's top deck caved in. The town and Natick Center Associates were in discussions until last summer to share the costs of expanding the garage. Talks ended when it became clear no federal or state funding was available to help.

It was tough news for the downtown, Fair said, but people seem to have accepted it.

"We just accepted the fact that unless one of us wins the lottery, we're not going to have $10 million to build a parking garage anytime soon," Fair said.

The parking crunch has eased up, too, though not in the way Fair had hoped. There seem to be fewer Middlesex Savings Bank employees downtown these days, he said, making more parking available for other customers.

"It's a good-bad thing because we would love to have the Middlesex Bank employees down here, patronizing stores here, but there isn't room," Fair said.

A spokesman for Middlesex Savings Bank said many employees have been relocated to a Westborough branch as part of normal operations, not in relation to the parking shortage in downtown Natick.

Fair recalls his father's involvement in a Natick business organization similar to Natick Center Associates, which was established in 1996 to allow businesses to seek funding for a director. Today, the group is managed by a part-time director. Fair said the group has been vital to the downtown's success and must continue, along with other community efforts.

"There are a lot of interested people," Fair said. "There are bankers in the group and myself and I don't think any of us think we're going to get another bank account, insurance policy out of it. It's about improving the quality of downtown Natick."

Bill Vernon, Massachusetts State Director for the National Federation of Independent Business, said he continues to see active downtown business associations have results for merchants.

"I think that's a factor that really plays a role," Vernon said. "I know some towns have a downtown day or evening and I've seen it with thousands of people downtown. I think that helps with keeping people downtown."

Sara Withee is a freelance writer. She can be reached at swithee@gmail.com.