Folks, if I could wax philosophical for a moment. Lets not get our collective panties in more of a bunch than they already are. Gibsons didnt kill downtown, Wal-Mart certainly didnt, there isnt a single thing you can point to that did. History is not an event followed by an event, followed by another event. Thats a movie. History is a continuous set of threads that intertwine, forming a tapestry. Eventually you can make out a pattern in the tapestry, even see a picture in it, but as its being woven you sometimes cant see it. The problems of downtown began in the late 50s or early 60s when well-meaning people thought that they could strengthen downtown by moving the post office away and bringing in a strong retailer, by getting rid of the old Opera House and bringing in a strong retailer, etc. Hindsight is 20/20 and with hindsight I think I can say that what they really did was to begin to erode the character of the town, without knowing it. The 60s were all about new stuff, new ideas, new buildings, forget the old, in fact, reject the old. This was a mistake, no question about it. The next nail in the coffin of downtown was the Mall. This was a trend all over the country, and you cant blame the business people of Greeley for thinking this was the way to go. Penneys decided to go to the Mall, Hibbs went to the Mall, Wards went to the Mall, Sears decided to give up the catalog store and build a big store in the Mall. This was the trend everywhere, downtown sales were flat, this was a chance to rev up and expand. Greeley didnt start changing the streets and messing around with things down there until the big stores had already moved. It was a reaction to the loss of businesses, not something that happened that drove them out. Heaven knows that there were lots and lots of missteps in trying to bring downtown back from the depths of despair. They closed off 8th and 9th streets to make a walking mall somewhat like the 16th street mall in Denver. That didnt work and as I recall they tore those out and returned the through streets, only to close them off again and put the single lane streets in with the walking potential. They tried the glass outhouses to control parking but that was a disaster! They took those out and tried one thing after another. Part of the problem with downtown is that Greeley was a little behind the curve, so as we tried to do some of these things, life and trends were moving a different direction. Greeley was always trying to play catch-up. But what should have happened fifteen or twenty years ago is finally beginning to happen now. We are getting some nice eating establishments, some specialty stores (although were behind the curve on that, too), and some nice bars/establishments that offer music, contemplation, etc. The Mall is no longer much of a factor, since it, too, is waning. The new trend (another one of those threads in the tapestry) is for outdoor malls like Centerra, not indoor ones like our Mall. Internet shopping has hurt small business because its difficult to maintain an inventory and keep the prices down when Amazon can do it cheaper. Price has always been a factor. The reason Gibsons was popular, and later K-Mart and then Wal-Mart, is price. People chose to go with a lower price instead of customer service. This is just the way of the world, and we have to cope with it. So be happy that we finally seem to have found a situation where downtown might be coming back. Yes, we can mourn the passing of what was, but we arent going to go back. It just isnt going to happen. Lets concentrate on keeping the history and character that is still around us, and support the downtown activities, whatever they are. Im going to step off my soapbox now. Thank you for listening, if you made it this far into this rather long post.
Posted on: Tue, 21 Jan 2014 16:34:03 +0000
Trending Topics
© 2015