The Retail Landscape Spring Outlook 2011

The good news for local merchants is that reports have the larger economy improving. Locally, the 330 looks like it will be open for travel by the 4th of July instead of late in the fall as scheduled. Merchants are still closing their stores for good at a rate that is, I'm sure, unprecedented.

I am actually looking for more retail closures in Big Bear Lake prior to the summer season which really doesn't start in earnest until the 4th of July.

Open for Business

Sugarpine Bake Shop is opening a second location in the Village on Village Dr. next to Shirt Shanty. It's the former Village Cookie Shop. Opening looks like maybe Memorial Day. Good luck guys!


Cowboy Fancy, the new venture by long time Village Business operator Paul Ortuno. Like the name says, western ware and his horsemanship training is on the menu. The new store is on Village Dr. next to Hunter Hall's. Opening is looking like early July. Best of luck to the Ortuno's!


Club Bombay has posted it's ABC notice in the window. Another bar in the Village between the Himalayan Restaurant and the new AV Nightclub. Can you say moratorium?


AV Nightclub opened on May 2, 2011 in the former Pub on Village Dr. It is blue inside.


Le Dolce Vita says they are opening soon. On Village Dr across from Stillwells/Northwoods Resort. Beer and Wine on sale at a public place.



Space Available


Starbucks Coffee is closing its Village Store on May 20, 2011. My source at Starbucks says it is due to general low store revenues. This same store survived the closing of 600 under performing stores in 2008. This was "my" Starbucks. Who knew three Starbucks in Big Bear would be too many?

Simply Irresistible on Village Dr has vacated and the space is for lease.


Children's Closet has vacated and the space on Village Dr. is for lease.


Village Theater South on Village Dr. is for sale (real estate only) approx 9000 sq ft. older building. The listing is asking under 1 million. Contact Tom Benson at Sothebys.


Several new 'cubes' will be available soon in the Christmas Mart on Pine Knot. Maybe 3 will have frontage on the courtyard. All spaces have lots of natural light and share new common restrooms. Stop by and take a look. Contact Monty at the Christmas Mart.

Another Village Shop Fades to Black

The Home Décor shop Simply Irresistible has shut down operations and vacated the space on Village Dr. in the Village. The owner had opened almost 2 years ago in the same space of the former Wildwood Gallery, a long time Village fine art and gift store.

Children's Closet Closes Village Dr. Store

The latest casualty of the greater economic downturn or 2009-2011 is the Children's Closet. Long time Village Clothing and gift store on Village Dr., the business was listed for sale most of 2010 with no buyers coming forward. This will add to the commercial space available inventory in the Village putting even more downward pressure on rents.

Recently Village Dr. businesses have asked the Improvement Agency to please do something for West Village Dr. when considering improvements for the Village.

Bear Valley Electric Small Business Cash Rebates for New Lighting

The offer is cash for replacement of old t12 fluorescent fixtures with new energy saving t8 type fixtures, exit signs, and timers. Offer is good for purchases made between Oct. 7, 2010 and Dec. 10, 2012. All the details and the rebate application are online at the BVE website http://www.bves.com/. or call 909-866-4678.

We installed the new t8 fixtures when we took the new space back in 2007 just to save on utilities (we operate at about 60% of the previous tenants electricity consumption) and would have qualified for the full $5,000 per year BVE is offering today.

Ouch!

Rebates are for up to $95.00 per fixture and would be verified by BVES before rebate check would be cut.

New Retail Shops open in the Village

The Village is still losing ground with vacancies through the last quarter of 2009 with the opening of Allato Gellato on Pine Knot at the Alpine Suites and the Grizzly Mountain Gourmet an upscale food, wine and beer with a deli counter in the old Bear Mountain Coffee store next to Hunter Halls on Village Dr. On the negative side of the chart is the closing of The Pub and Big Bear Souvenir and Gift, both on Pine Knot. More bad news is the buzz that one of the larger Women's Clothing store is going to close before the still illusive Christmas Season begins.

I am certainly looking forward to the opening of the Copper Q, a kitchen and food oriented concept with coffee and pastries in the former Creative Cottage space which went dark almost one year ago. I don't think the "Q" will open before the new year. Best of luck to Kent and Linda as the site is starting to take shape!

VBA Squares off Against City of Big Bear Lake over More Low Income Housing

In the September 2009 VBA Voice, President Charlie Brewster, in his Presidents Message, expresses his frustration with the lack of progress and the years of pleading with the City regarding improvements in Landscape and Lighting, Parking and Better Pedestrian Connections from the Village to the Lake. Earlier this summer, Village Merchants were awakened during their busiest season to learn a 42 unit government subsidized rental project was being approved that would create a hard boarder for future development of the Village on Knickerbocker at Pennsylvania, adjacent to the Elementary School, just as the large senior housing complex (owned by City Councilor Bill Jahn) has done on the South of the Village.

It seemed to me that at the Public Meetings regarding the hastily approved Knickerbocker Low Income Rental Complex, Residents, Merchants and the City Council (who unanimously approved the project despite pleas by Village Merchants to reconsider the location of the apartments as less than optimal for residents and the vitality of our Retail District) were assured by the Redevelopment Agency Director, that any more low income projects would be made widely know to all and certainly not be clustered in the Village area.


Apparently, the City does not consider the property on Badger and Bartlett (in the Village Specific Plan District) currently zoned Village Retail (the most restrictive zoning intentionally set aside for future retail expansion) to be worthy of mentioning to anybody, even as late as the first public workshop to update the current Village Specific Plan on August 31, 2009, that it is in the planning process for yet more subsidised housing.


As Verizon has already initiated splitting the parcel that they currently occupy, and have the property on Bartlett and on Badger in escrow pending approval of this new low income project, I assume promises have been made to the developer and Verizon as to the outcome of this latest stab by the City, to re-designate the vision and current use of Village property by the City's Redevelopment Agency and City Council.

In his message, Mr. Brewster urges all property owners and businesses to have their opinion heard by filling out his attached petition and making sure it is recognized by the City Council.

VBA Voice: http://tinyurl.com/nld932

ExploreBigBearLake in the Inland Empire Visitors Guide

Big Bear Lake Retail Merchants, Restaurants and Lodges have gotten together to get some exposure off the hill and promote Big Bear Lake as a destination worthy of consideration when it comes to Shopping, Dining or just some high quality Unwinding. The two page ad features the pristine beauty of our alpine landscape that provides an unequaled theme, year round Activities for the 39-55 demographic that seek a clean and healthy atmosphere, and wholesome Entertainment, Dining and Cultural Aspects that appeal to the Leisure Travel visitor. Many of our Fine Dining establishments are showcased on the www.explorebigbearlake.com web site as are over 100 other places in Big Bear Lake that will surely attract weekday as well as weekend visitors and staycationers.

Since inception in 2008, the Primary Goal for Big Bear Lake Retail Merchants, Restaurants and Lodges is the successful promotion of Big Bear Lake as a Leisure Travel Destination and to increase the number of visitors during weekdays and weekends in the shoulder seasons, providing a more consistent demand for our many Retail Oriented Businesses.

Directory and Maps USA from Redlands, CA are the publishers of the Inland Empire Visitors Guide, a full size, glossy magazine format printed piece about 100 pages. The publication is partially funded by the Inland Empire Tourism Council in partnership with the California Travel and Tourism Council.

150,000 Visitors Guides will be printed and distributed for the 12 months at SoCal California Welcome Centers, Chambers of Commerce, Tourism Trade Shows, and Mass Transit Hubs from San Diego to Bakersfield.

An online Visitors Guide will be available at www.visitinlandempire.com.

For information and to learn how you can join the move to improve, contact Tim Breunig at the United Wood Craftsmen Gallery in the Village.

Traffic Round-a-Bouts for Moonridge?

Several options for reducing speeds on Moonridge were delineated at the Moonridge Visioning Meeting, held recently at Hofert Hall, by the City of Big Bear Lake Improvement Agency the Consultant hired by the agency to assemble all the comments given by property owners and business operators from the Moonridge Redevelopment District.

Scenarios including different mixes of potential Hotels, Condos, and Commercial developments from Big Bear Blvd. all the way to the Moonridge 'Y' where the agency's land planners envisioned a hotel property being constructed.

The link below is a historical summary of Sadona Arizona's current project to install Round-a-Bouts. I think Dick Kun's neck hair may be twitching.

Vision is key to success. Good luck to all my friends in Moonridge!

http://www.sedona.biz/why-roundabouts-sedona0109.htm

SoCal Small Business Feeling the Pain

In Big Bear Lake, you can see it from the street. Lots of empty commercial space gone vacant. We get the question from customers all the time.. what's going on? The economic down turn has certainly added to the woes of many mom and pop's here in the valley. Business Columnist Jan Norman has some staggering facts as to just what is happening. Click the link below for some insight.

Jan Norman on business woes.

The Buxton Report

The Buxton Report was commissioned by the City of Big Bear Lake to evaluate our local retail marketplace. The original report was to be released as early as Sept. 2008.

A special meeting was posted on July 10 by the city to hold a workshop around the report on July 13, 2009 at 9:00 AM in the morning.

The current version of the report is available @ http://www.citybigbearlake.com/documents/IA071309sp.pdf

I fear this report and the data provided (Buxton Report dated July 13, 2009) may be interpreted by some as “Wow! We must be doing ok!” when in fact we are not. Or that the report says we need a Wal-Mart, when in fact it does not.

What the report fails to do is factor in the complex and unique retail marketplace that has evolved over our long and rich history, built, for the most part, by the seat of our pants. Our marketplace has developed and adapted from many directions and from the weight of many forces, but the common fuel for continued success has always been (as articulated in the Buxton Report) revenues from tourism.

What is not articulated in the report, but needs to a part of the conversation, is the actual demand for goods and services represented in the number of visitors to the Valley each year. Nor does the report estimate projected leakage of sales as we are able to increase tourism on weekdays and in shoulder seasons.

In my opinion, the best source of council for determining the need for infrastructure investments to our retail marketplace has always been from the many merchants, lodge and restaurant owners who have put in so many years of hard work to maintain the happy face of Big Bear Lake for the millions of visitors we greet each year. These valued members of the community know what no consultant can, and I am sure would be more than willing to advise the Council and it’s staff given the opportunity.

I believe all potential for our existing small businesses to prosper and for the growth of our retail sector to become a provider, instead of a backdrop, will be in our willingness to compete in the region at a much higher level, with focused goals, around a significant investment in retail infrastructure, and amenities provided our visitors, taking advantage of our natural landscape and quaint, small town atmosphere.
The report does clearly identify the excellent job our local retailers do in meeting the needs of their customers as outline in the leakage/surplus analysis and clearly identifies our target demographic (page 12 of the report) as one that is older, wealthier and a little more sophisticated, than to date, many of us have understood.

So Cal's Summer Vacation Plans

If there is any bright spot in the current economic downturn, it's the fact that many Southern California families are still going to take vacation this summer. AAA says that in fact vacation plans by Auto Club Members are off significantly compared to 2007 & 2008. http://news.aaa-calif.com/pr/aaa/summer-travel-survey-0609.aspx?ncid=6058

And sure there is belt tightening, but of the surveyed, only about 5% more than those surveyed in 2008 said they were going to spend less than last year while on vacation. But when you take into consideration that 40% of those surveyed are going to stay right here in California, there may be a bright spot in the numbers for Big Bear Lake.

Also in the survey, are some interesting hot buttons for vacation planners, something we have been trying to improve on when marketing our own marketplace here in Big Bear Lake.

"When rating highly important reasons for taking their first trip of this summer:

88 percent said the vacation destination was a highly important factor
73 percent cited cost
65 percent said entertainment/recreation
63 percent rated the ease of reaching the destination as highly important
57 percent cited proximity to family/friends
40 percent rated a friend’s/relative’s recommendation as highly important
40 percent cited a special event"

Big Bear Lake rates naturally high in several of these key areas or part of these areas. It would serve Retail Merchants, Lodges and Restaurants well to improve in weaker areas and then heavily promote our marketplace as the ideal vacation and leisure travel destination for Southern California on a permanent basis, all round.

Merchants, Restaurants and Lodges should be putting all their marketing efforts into letting leisure travel demographic know about just how Big Bear Lake fits into what they are looking for in a vacation or get-a-way.

Village Merchants Planning First Wine Walk Event

Village Merchants are gathering steam to host the first Wine Walk Event in the Village. A number of Merchants have agreed to pitch in to host the event. The first event would benefit the local Meals on Wheels efforts.

Village Merchants have made a formal proposal to the VBA for their support to aid in making the first event happen this summer.

The event will be a self guided tour form Northwoods Resort to Pine Knot Marina and is one of many events the retail community is actively trying to put into place in order to better compete in the regional marketplace by attracting more get-a-way and leisure travel customers from throughout SoCal.

Rassmussen takes temperature of Small Business

The confidence of 20 million small business owners takes a dip for the worse. Cash flow problems on the rise. More from Jan Norman on Small Business outlook: http://jan.freedomblogging.com/2009/05/26/business-owners-turn-more-pessimistic/14481/

A tip for our City Council as they wrap up the 09-10 budget.. Park City, UT has found themselves a bit short of projected revenues as major lodging interests file for bankruptcy before paying local bed taxes (The Block right here in Big Bear Lake). Might there be more on the horizon? TOT is a major percentage of our General Fund.

Park City Utah

Some interesting facts off the Park City Website.

• Park City was founded as a silver-mining town in 1869. By 1900, it was a booming mining town with 10,000 residents and 100 saloons
• Second largest silver strike in U. S., 1200 miles of mining tunnels under the city; the deepest mining shaft is 2600’ Flagstaff Mountain was the first mining claim in the Park City area; George Hearst owned the Ontario Mine
• Summit County was one of the fastest growing counties in the US during the 1990’s
• Park City population: 8,066 in the City; 21,000 additional in Snyderville Basin
  Elevation: 7000’ at Main Street (ranges from 6500’- 10,000’)
• City Size: 17.6 square miles
• Average Daily Water Consumption: 4. 6 million gallons
  School Population: 4,336 (Fall 2008)
• Assessed Property Valuation: $4,635,372,939 (Primary residences); $5,602,376,327 (Vacation homes)
• Number of Primary Dwelling Unit: 3,179
• Number of Secondary Homes/ Units: 4,773
• Lodging capacity: 23,307(pillow count)
• Gross Taxable Sales: $450 million in City
• Number of Restaurants: 131
• Number of Park City Business Licenses: 1,917
• Number of Retail Store: 286 in Park City & Basin
• Number of City Police Officers: 24 full-time, 16 part-time
• Number of City Employee: 305 full-time equivalents
• Number of Miles of City Roads: 121

Park City Toursim Recognized by Local Leadership

Developing our Retail Marketplace and Tourism Offering is Paramount to local growth and prosperity for small business and their employees. I think we would do well aspiring to be the Park City of California.

Recent story below from the Park City Record on Park City Tourism.

http://www.parkrecord.com/ci_12379908

US Travel Association and Toursim Workers Rally

Tourism is off in Vegas, Park City and other destinations. Folks that are planning a vacation are planning on staying closer to home.

Oskar Garcia on Tourism. http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/may/12/nv-tourism-rally-051209/?california

There may be an opportunity Big Bear Lake. Can we take advantage? If so, how will we do it?

Fast Food Fatality

The Big Bear Lake Fast Food Franchise Burger King, on Big Bear Blvd., Closed and Boarded Up. This unattractive reality is just another in our ever growing list of retail vacancies. I hope the upcoming economic summit hosted by the Big Bear Lake Chamber of Commerce focuses on real strategy and plans to combat the 3 year decline in retail revenues the City has seen and promotes an emergency plan of action by civic and business leaders to stem the growing numbers of business failures in the valley. The questions and answers should pertain to; what are we doing? who is doing it? and when is it going to be done? What we don't need is eight hours of how we can all get along while going broke.

Arissa Turner on Burger King:
http://www.bigbeargrizzly.net/articles/2009/05/06/news/doc4a00cdbb182f4998857814.txt

Orange County Retail Vacancies up 70% year to date

Jeff Collins on Orange County Retail Vacancies:

O.C. retail vacancies jump 70 percent

Sol Food & Equada Yoga Give Back in Big Way

Cathrine Sandstrom on proceeds from Equada's Community Class on Tuesdays.
http://kbhr933.com/current-news/local-businesses-give-yoga-class-results-healthy-food-families/

Big Bear Lake Retail to Debut Ad in Inland Empire Visitors Guide

A new 2 page ad in the Inland Empire Visitors Guide featuring the Big Bear Lake Retail Marketplace will be finalized this month. The glossy magazine format publication comes out in June, 2009 and is distributed at California Welcome Centers and Major Transit hubs in the Southland.

The ad targets Leisure Travelers, Getaway Couples and Families. We think Big Bear Lake has a bright future as a Leisure Travel Destination. If your business can participate in this off-the-hill marketing project, there are a few spaces still available for as little as $110.00 for the year! Contact Tim Breunig by 4/15/09 at 909-878-3556.

Check out the magazine at the visitinlandempire link in the nav bar.