Retail consultants presented a plan to business owners, residents and town and University officials Thursday night at the Carolina Inn on Columbia Street, highlighting moves needed for Franklin Street to reclaim its commercial luster.
Much talk has surfaced in the last year over the legendary business district's economic standing and the potential detriment caused by competitors such as Durham's Streets at Southpoint.
University Retail Group consultant Kenneth Kaufman, who has worked with development projects in Washington, D.C., said Franklin Street is limited by its lack of diversity and its focus on bars, eateries and T-shirt vendors.
Kaufman said the more robust businesses tend to be placed all over the street instead of clustered together, which he said would be more economically viable. "If you put all those stores together, everyone would do better," he said.
What downtown Chapel Hill needs is more aggressive marketing to attract proven retailers, said consultant Bryce Turner of Brown and Craig Inc. Architects and Designers in Baltimore. "Certainly Franklin Street does not want to be the Streets of Southpoint," Turner said. "But I think we can learn from them."
The consultants suggested a variety of new businesses to Franklin Street, including those that specialize in books, fashion, shoes and fresh food.
Turner recommended the downtown begin a facade improvement program to improve the lighting and signage at storefronts to attract consumers better.
Local businessman Ken Jackson raised concerns about the University's South Campus developments, saying the town needed to know what types of businesses UNC has planned in order to compete. "At some point we need to know."
But Jonathan Howes, special assistant to the chancellor and director of the University's Master Plan, said the services UNC will provide in Master Plan businesses will not be directly competing with the town. "In some respects, this is an old issue."
