Merchants along Mill Avenue are feeling the effects of an economic decline in Tempe, according to a report released late last month.
The report showed a 15 percent decrease in sales-tax revenue collected along Mill Avenue from July 2007 to July 2008.
Mill Avenue was among the hardest-hit business districts in the downturn, surpassed only by the Autoplex, on Priest Drive in south Tempe, as the area seeing the most decline since last year.
City Manager Charlie Meyer reported an 8.8 percent decrease in sales-tax revenue since last year at Thursday’s City Council meeting. The numbers released in August offer the latest breakdown of changes in tax revenue over the last year by district.
“Right now, Mill is in a state of transition,” said Casaundra Brown, Downtown Tempe Community public relations and marketing director. “There are a lot of businesses changing along Mill Avenue.”
Mill Avenue is currently lined with many vacant spaces, particularly between Sixth Street and University Drive. Those vacancies include the empty storefronts in the Centerpoint development, near Mill Avenue and University Drive.
Brown said reasons for the decline included a poorly performing national economy and the opening of Tempe Marketplace as a competitor.
The economy is what led real-estate developer DMB and Associates to delay the redevelopment of Centerpoint, already five years in the making, for another five years, Brown said.
Last year’s opening of Tempe Marketplace, a shopping center located just off the Loop 202 Freeway at McClintock Drive, also affected sales along Mill, Brown said. But she remains optimistic that Mill Avenue will remain the heart of commerce in Tempe.
“We always see a quick jump [away from our stores] when something else opens, and we always recover,” Brown said. “We experienced the same thing when Arizona Mills opened.”
Communications senior Rachael Mynchenberg said the newness of Tempe Marketplace gave it a certain appeal to students, especially those returning.
“[Mill Avenue is] always going to attract freshmen, but for people who have been here awhile, Marketplace is the new thing to check out,” Mynchenberg said.
One recent departure from Mill Avenue is used bookstore Those Were the Days, which left its storefront last month and is now an online-only bookstore run from an office in Mesa.
Those Were the Days owner Victor Linoff said niche stores are important for the success of Mill Avenue, where he ran his business for 35 years.
“I think downtown [Tempe] has struggled to find its identity,” Linoff said. “It can be successful and dynamic if it creates an atmosphere of uniqueness.”
Linoff said the problem was that community planners had brought in too many chain stores, essentially making the district an urban mall.
“They can’t compete with malls. Marketplace has overlapped with all of the services offered on Mill,” Linoff said. “They should be looking to attract singular, unique businesses you can’t find anywhere else.”
Corporate retailers Borders, Urban Outfitters and Sunglass Hut declined to comment on the situation, citing company policy that keeps employees from speaking to the press.
Brown said the Downtown Tempe Community organization was working with business owners to assess their needs and concerns. In the long run, she said the feel and atmosphere of downtown Tempe could not be duplicated anywhere else in the city.
“It’s very urban, very eclectic,” Brown said. “People like to get that authentic urban experience.”
Reach the reporter at derek.quizon@asu.edu.
