Snohomish: Open for business

Published 11:13 am Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Snohomish has been around 150 years and commercially it’s still very much alive.

That’s the message that the retailers of Snohomish want to make perfectly clear. Quite frankly, they’ve been puzzled lately by reports that downtown Snohomish has become a ghost town.

Cruise down First Street at midday any day of the week and you’re still challenged to find a parking place. Walking can be impeded by scaffolding as businesses freshen up their faces for spring. Locals and tourists alike wander happily from shop to shop.

It’s true, there are some empty windows as those shoppers stroll by. But on the whole, the store fronts are either occupied or preparing for new incoming tenants’; and there are plenty of those.

Just ask Kimberly McIlrath. It wasn’t long ago that she moved her established and successful business, Faded Elegance, from Hewitt Avenue in Everett to Snohomish’s busy First Street. She saw the opportunity to move to a prime location and jumped on it.

“I grew up here,” McIlrath said. “I know the town really well. I just felt it was a good decision.”

While her Everett location was good for business, McIlrath felt her eclectic mix of vintage and antique décor furniture and gifts would do even better in a place known for prime antiques.

McIlrath also liked the support and camaraderie shown between the various business owners in Snohomish. Businesses often work together to offer various specials and events. The competition is there, but so is the support.

When asked if she had felt the economic downturn, McIlrath shrugged. “You do feel it. People are thinking harder before they buy. But they’re still buying,” she said.

Rita Gilfilen, owner of Lodge Podge on First Street agreed. “It’s really hard to put into reference because last year was our best year ever,” Gilfilen said. “February and March were down. But last year we had the best February and March that we ever had, so it balances out.”

What McIlrath, Gilfilen and many other retailers are doing is adapting to the economic changes. Gilfilen has been in business for many years and has ridden out previous economic downturns. She knows many strategies and has been using them to her own and her customers’; advantage.

“Instead of mailing out our newsletter we sent out postcards and it worked great,” Gilfilen said. “It’s tweaking our business plan. We’re so used to business as usual but sometimes things happen and you have to extend your thinking.”

In April, Lodge Podge joined with Faded Elegance, Speckled Hen and Annie’s on First to offer shoppers a chance to win a $500 shopping spree in honor of Snohomish’s 150 years. It was just one of several small promotions going on in the historic downtown shopping area.

“Snohomish is just like any business community,” said City of Snohomish Economic Development Manager Debbie Emge. “We go through cycles. The business owners are very close to each other, rely on each other and work together on cross-promotions.”

Like the business owners, Emge has also been concerned about any misconception that Snohomish is going out of business. She pointed out that there haven’t been a significant number of closures. Many businesses have, however, been moving to either larger or smaller premises as the opportunity occurred.

One of these merchants was Annie McDowell, owner of Annie’s on First, offering vintage home décor, garden items and gifts. She upgraded to a much larger shop on First Street while a bicycle shop took over her old premises.

“The opportunity came up and it’s paid off pretty well for me,” McDowell said. “What’s funny (about the remorse) is that a lot of stores have gotten bigger.”

While a lot of stores have been changing locations, many of the old favorites are still in the same place they used to be. Star Center Antique Mall and Remember When Antique Mall are still haunted by customers seeking the next big find to take on the Antique Roadshow.

Another long time Snohomish business is the Cabbage Patch Restaurant on Avenue A. There’s not much you can tell long-time owner Sondra McCutchan about business adversity. A fire gutted her original building back in 2004.

The economic downturn, McCutchan maintained, is nothing compared to being closed down by fire. Besides, she’s weathered economic downturns before. People still come in to eat. They just change their patterns.

“What I see is that dinners are down but lunches are up. Lunches are less money so people come and have breakfast or lunch,” McCutchan said.

Something else that has helped is the success of her catering business. In 2008, McCutchan was named Best Caterer in Western Washington by King 5 News and Evening Magazine. In a town that is known for weddings and prime wedding venues, she’s actually seen an increase in this side of the business.

“People are still going to get married,” McCutchan said.

It’s a sentiment echoed by Emge, who has not only been instrumental in promoting the Snohomish Wedding Guild and www.mysnohomishwedding.com but has also helped the city’s businesses to make use of the latest technology to promote themselves.

One of those high-tech promotions is iShopSnohomish.com, aimed at encouraging consumers to bring their retail dollars back to the town in which they live. The actual Web site address is www.shopsnohomish.com

“We’re trying to show our residents just how much we have here and get them to change their shopping habits. Instead of shopping where they work, we want to get them to come back into their own city and shop,” Emge said.

Not only does shopping locally help the business community, it benefits the consumers, too. In a small city like Snohomish, almost 50 percent of the city budget comes from sales tax revenue.

Consumers don’t need to spend more money in order to help their city. They simply need to spend their money at home. Fortunately, this is even easier with the opening of many new stores last year at the popular Snohomish Station on Bickford Avenue. Other new retail developments are also under construction in the new shopping center.

Something else that had people outside of Snohomish concerned about the city’s downtown retail center was the highly publicized move of a popular motorcycle show to Sultan after a dozen years in Snohomish. While retailers who counted on the show’s crowd of thousands of visitors are extremely sad to see it go, they’re keeping it in perspective.

“Special events are important to downtown but they’re not everything. They are just one or two days during the year. While they are very good for our businesses, the businesses don’t survive just on that one special event,” Emge said.

In fact, there are brand new special events on horizon. One is the Historic Snohomish Antiques and Arts Faire. This event already has its own Web site and is scheduled to happen May 16 on First Street.

“We’re closing the street for the whole day. It’s going to be like a little festival,” McDowell said,.

Looking to the future, there is a good chance that an excursion train between Woodinville and Snohomish will start running as early as autumn. Passengers would stop in or near downtown for relaxing, sightseeing, food and shopping.

“That could bring millions of tourism dollars to the community,” Emge said.

Even if the train doesn’t materialize, merchants are confident in the future. Most say they feel the worst is already past and warmer weather is bound to bring more shoppers to the well-loved streets of a town often billed as “The Antique Capital of the Northwest.”