Mayor Hopes to Boost Downtown Retailing

Pittsburgh’s Mayor, obviously unhappy about the impending departure of Saks from its Downtown location and the downsizing of Macy’s, has pulled together a blue ribbon panel to recommend ways to halt the exodus of retail and maybe even attract some new stores.

Bulletin for the panel: think parking, and think about the way people shop.

Downtown Pittsburgh attracts tens of thousands of people every day as they go to their jobs along with thousands of visitors staying in hotels or in town for the day on business. They are presumably a built in retail bonanza for Downtown and yet major retail outlets have not fared well in recent decades, with many major stores departing-even those receiving significant taxpayer subsidies. Granted, there is a fair amount of retail remaining, with a few men’s and women’s clothiers, drug stores and some specialty outlets. However, the overall trend has been toward a lower level of retail as shopping continues to expand more and more into the suburbs and less congested areas.

When folks go shopping, as opposed to hurriedly running to the store over their lunch hour to pick up an item, they typically want to have time to browse and visit several shops in a comfortable environment. To do that, they need relatively convenient and inexpensive, if not free, parking. Those who want to see retail expand Downtown would do well to drive into the City in late morning or early afternoon and try to find parking anywhere near retailers. And if one is lucky enough to find a parking spot, rest assured it will cost a packet. In short, expecting large numbers of people to show up Downtown on a weekday to shop is a pipe dream.

Maybe parking prices could be lowered drastically at night or weekends to attract shoppers but that seems a very long shot for two reasons. Retailers cannot survive principally on Saturday traffic and would not open a new outlet on hopes that they could make it on Saturday and maybe some Sunday business. Moreover, who would drive into the City from the suburbs to shop on Saturday when a plethora of more convenient shopping centers are available closer to home and far less difficult to get to? Then too, coming into the City at night to shop is not something many busy family folks will contemplate. Besides, malls offer a wide variety of shops in close proximity to each other and thus maximize the shopper’s use of time and effort spent shopping. Finally, most of the people in town are adult and with minor exceptions, all the retailing in town is aimed at adults. If families with children want to go shopping, Downtown is not a likely destination.

Moreover, the weekend shopper looking for garden supplies or home repair products, hardware or furniture will find slim pickings Downtown. And those shoppers are a big portion of Saturday and Sunday traffic.

This is the reality facing the City as it tries to get more retail in to the Downtown. The Mayor and his minions might want to be grateful for the taxpayer subsidized sports facilities and the convention center as well as the world class, privately funded, entertainment venues that bring large numbers of people into the City. These folks support restaurants, pay parking and amusement taxes and help maintain a vibrant weekend and evening presence in the Golden Triangle and in so doing help sustain property values and the real estate taxes as well as employment in the City. It would be far better for the City to work on keeping those people happy than to spend a lot of time trying to force a square peg into a round hole.