Flailing downtown businesses fight to survive streetscape; some
owners report as much as 80 percent drop in sales
By Betsy Avelar
Gilroy – A seven-month revitalization project has turned downtown Gilroy into a nightmare for some business owners who are suffocating in the dust of construction and are mired in frustration.
Establishments such as Discoteca, Clocks and Collectibles, and Top Nails have seen a 50 percent decrease in business since the Streetscape construction project began in April.
Armando Yessin, owner of the Discoteca music store between 4th and 5th streets, saw business drop 80 percent in recent months.
“There is no more business,” said Yessin, who has been in business for 16 years. “I will have to find another place.”
Yessin is not the only downtown merchant worried about the future.
Larry DeMoss, co-owner of Clocks and Collectibles, also worries that he won’t make it through the downtown overhaul.
“I’d just have to liquidate and go into retirement on welfare. I’m too old for anybody to hire me,” the 67-year-old DeMoss said. Peering through his metal frame glasses, he chuckled sarcastically at the idea that the city is “trying their best” to help businesses downtown.
“The city is not helping the businesses at all downtown,” he said. “They’re doing everything they can possibly do to kill the businesses. And the landlords don’t seem to be helping either.”
He was certain that “none of the city council members that are currently on the board will ever receive another vote from me,” if he were to go out of business.
Scott Kawano, one of the owners of Gilroy Bowl that has been around 30 years, sat back in his chair, lowered his eyes, and sighed as he explained how a lack of nearby parking has hurt business.
“We lost a lot of senior citizens,” Kawano said. “To walk with a bowling ball to get here is hard, especially for the seniors. You have no parking to begin with, and that has always been an issue.”
Kawano is among the business owners who finds little use in the weekly meetings city officials hold to update businesses on the status of construction.
“I got tired of going to the meetings,” he said. “It’s the same thing over and over again.”
The weekly meetings are attended by the contractor, city engineer, and the project manager along with five other business people. They are held in English, and include an update and a three-week look ahead at the construction schedule.
“If business owners would come to the meetings that are scheduled once a week, every Wednesday morning 9:30am at the Chamber, and had they come to the planning sessions that have been scheduled and open meetings for the past two years, many things that are happening would not be a surprise,” said Dave Peoples, owner of downtown business Nimble Thimble.
Peoples attends the weekly meetings and believes all businesses had a fair chance to participate with the planning of the project. Yet Rafael Morales, the husband of one of the owners of Aldana’s Promotion, who speaks only Spanish has a different opinion.
“Even if I take a personal interpreter why would they care about what I have to say?” he asked.
Morales said the city should update the businesses through bilingual flyers and negotiating deals with the landlords to lower rent.
“They (the city) are the ones who should be making sure that the businesses receive this information,” Morales said.
Language barriers have been an obstacle for other businesses such as Los Arcos Market, Aldana’s Promotion, and Top Nails in receiving information. Anna Tran speaks Vietnamese and owns Top Nails between 5th and 6th streets on Monterey. Her friend Diana Soang translated her concerns about the situation.
“When we get here, we don’t have water, and we commute from San Jose,” Soang said. The 15 minute warning for turning off the water from the construction company is not enough time to prepare for pedicures and for cleaning the necessary utensils, she said.
“It really hurts the business, and we have to reduce the price for the services,” Soang said.
Tran was not notified of the construction downtown before she rented the building. According to Soang, the landlord will not lower the rent regardless of the situation. Tran had concerns about having a translator available at the weekly meetings and hopes that there are funds from the city available for businesses that are faltering.
Despite the harsh realities of the situation, Peoples argued that this project had been planned out for the past two years and supports the mayor and the city.
“Al is a personal friend, and I think he’s doing a great job in his passion for the downtown,” Peoples said.
Some downtown merchants like Steve Gearing, owner of Happy Dog Pizza and director of the Gilroy Downtown Business Association, is working with Peoples to plan events that will promote the area.
Gearing subscribed to the “no pain, no gain” approach when asked about his thoughts on the problems other business owners were experiencing. He hoped the Fifth Street Live Concert series, prepared to start its second year, would once again inject life and money into the struggling downtown.
“It’s important that those concerns get out,” he said, but “there’s gonna be some pain.”
