Back on track?
Streetcar signals downtown is back in business
Steve Lackmeyer gives an update on what the streetcars might mean for downtown businesses.
Gary Goldman, owner of Cultivar Mexican Kitchen, was hit hard this last year as Automobile Alley was torn up for construction of the Oklahoma City Streetcar. At least Cultivar is still open despite being hit with a $300,000 drop in business. As many as a half dozen shops and restaurants were hit so hard they closed before the streetcar launch on Friday brought back thousands who have avoided downtown through years of Project 180 and then the rail installation. “What has happened is downtown is tainted,” Goldman said. “Everyone says they’re staying away, that downtown is a disaster.” The streets are open again. The construction is done. And thousands of visitors discovered over the weekend downtown is safe again. Business at Cultivar was close to numbers Goldman recorded for the same time last year. Keith Paul, whose Good Egg Dining Group owns Barrio’s in Midtown, Red Prime Steakhouse along Automobile Alley and Kitchen No. 324 in the business district, reported increases at each establishment and even had to open the outdoor patio at Barrio’s despite chilly temperatures. The streetcars seemed to spread the number of people strolling and enjoying venues through downtown. Bricktown Water Taxi reported a season high of 2,640 passengers during the weekend’s holiday boat rides. The Devon Ice Rink at the Myriad Gardens normally draws about 3,000 on a weekend this time in December but topped 3,000 during the streetcar launch. The carousel also stayed full, carrying hundreds of riders, young and old.
Audrey Falk, meanwhile, is one of several merchants who are wondering if the streetcar launch has given downtown retail much needed exposure to a wider audience. Streetcars and streets were filled with people carrying shopping bags over the weekend.
“We saw lots of new customers, lots of people who hadn’t been downtown since construction started,” Falk said. “The streetcar launch signaled to them that downtown wouldn’t be a mess anymore.”
Saturday, she added, was the first day since Broadway was torn up in February in which sales were up for the same day in the prior year. It was also a record-setter for the nineyear gift and apparel store and its temporary store at the Holiday Pop-ups in Midtown.
Other stores reported similar upticks with another Automobile Alley store, Plenty Mercantile, reporting the boost in business related to the streetcar was continuing Monday.
Passenger counts for the Oklahoma City Streetcar itself were unavailable Monday afternoon, but anecdotally, the weekend was a success. I heard from numerous people who were not ordinary visitors who were discovering downtown has changed for the better.
Word is getting out during this honeymoon that the construction nightmare is over. But the free streetcar rides won’t last forever. February, a dismal month for retailers, restaurants and attractions, will almost certainly put a dent in ridership and the buzz we’re seeing now.
But March is when downtown comes to life again. And then we will find out whether those who fell in love with downtown, filling coffers at shops and restaurants this past weekend, are ready to make this a relationship that lasts.