Retail is Taking Root on Elm Street

By Ellen Grimm on Friday, December 28, 2007.

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For years, Manchester has been trying to revitalize downtown shopping.

And over the past year, several new shops have sprouted up on Elm street,

Enough critical mass had grown to even warrant the city's first annual holiday stroll earlier this month to launch the Christmas shopping season.

Shopowners applauded the evening's turnout, but say it didn't necessarily result in higher holiday sales,

NHPR correspondent Ellen Grimm reports.

The Saturday before Christmas, only a few shoppers were walking along the snow-cleared sidewalks of Manchester’s Elm Street.

The lack of shoppers downtown could have been because they were jockeying for parking spaces at the Mall of New Hampshire.

Or, it could have reflected a generally sluggish economy.

Several shop owners downtown, including Steve Larochelle, store manager of Pearson's Jewelry, said sales have been slower this year.

He blamed several factors, including the high cost of gas and oil.

Larochelle: It's been more a computer generation era where it's mostly Internet, phone calls. The bad weather has made it very much phone calls where a lot of people are not coming in foot-traffic wise. It's been a call: Do you have it? If so, send it. So foot traffic is down considerably. Saleswise, I mean, we are down for sure, but you know we are still doing okay. We will be open next year.

Sales of musical instruments and supplies – particularly the more expensive brands -- were down at Ted Herbert's Music and Art Center.

Salesman Jeffrey Imbody, says things have been slower than last year…about 25 percent lower…but he’s not quite sure why.

Imbody: Honestly, at this point I couldn't tell you except I know that a lot of people are afraid that the economy is not doing well. I don't know if it really is not doing that well. I'm not an economist in any way, shape or form, but I think that people believe that it is.

But not all shops were seeing slower sales.

At the The Tee Shirt Bodega, you can buy shirts with slogans such as “Live Free or Die,” “Stop Wars,” or “Someone Loves Me in Manchester.”

Chad Tardugno, who opened the shop on St. Patrick's day, says sales were pretty upbeat.

Tardugno: It was super steady for us. We did run a campaign to do 50 percent off, and we ran it for about three weeks, so that may have been why we had a lot more traffic but it was steady. Retail was not boring, that's for sure.

Tardugno says his shop didn’t sell much during the Moonlight Holiday Shoping stroll, even though the shop was packed all evening.
But, he says, the event did boost his shop’s exposure.

Barbara Potvin says the stroll was a great boost for her shop.

She owns the New England Sampler, right around the corner on Hanover Street.

Potvin: We are up from last year, I'm sure. We do a lot of corporate business. We do a lot of baskets, gift baskets (Potvincut1)

She credits her success to finding the right niche, selling products made in New Hampshire and New England.

Potvin: You can't find these kinds of things in a chainstore or the mall. It's been great. (Potvincut2)

Just days before Christmas, the few shoppers who were downtown were enthused about the downtown experience.

Michael Pugh, of Manchester, was strolling along
with a recent purchase.

…..because it's got a really nice assortment of things. Some of my favorite shops are here.
Ellen: Where did you just come from?
Pugh: I just came from Elizabeth's on Elm, beautiful arts and crafts, very elegant things.
Ellen: Do you also do the mall?
Pugh: I very rarely go to the mall. I don't think I've been to the mall for, oh, three or four years.

Chad Tardugno owner of the Tee Shirt Bodega, meanwhile, wants to see more shops open up along Elm Street.

He said competition is good for everyone.

Tardugno: We were hoping to set a trend and get maybe a lot more retail to Elm Street. I'm not sure if that's happened yet, but so far so good for us.

For NHPR News, I’m Ellen Grimm in Manchester.