Jan 2, 2009

Downtown Cincinnati retailers wrapping up better-than-expected holidayBy Lisa Biank FasigCincinnati.BizJournals.com

For a year when downtown retailers expected dismal holiday sales, the stockings actually arrived half-full.

They might not have seen the same-size receipts as in 2007, but many downtown merchants and restaurant operators say activity beat their revised outlooks. They credit an increase in downtown activities, smart marketing and new shops and restaurants.

“What happened is many of the residents and many of the people in the city supported the local stores,” said Melissa Waters, a partner at the specialty shop Metronation on Vine Street. “We had several people from both Northern Kentucky and the suburbs who said they were specifically coming downtown to support the local business.”

Metronation, which had expected at best a break-even season, saw a 26 percent increase in December sales over last year.

Likewise, the contemporary gift shop Mica, also on Vine Street in the Gateway Quarter posted a 43 percent increase in December sales over last year, said owners Mike and Carolyn Deininger.

The completion of the new Fountain Square a year ago, along with a cluster of new merchants at the square and on Vine Street in the Gateway Quarter, contributed, said David Ginsburg, president of Downtown Cincinnati Inc. He estimates 5,000 to 7,000 people flocked to Fountain Square on each of three Satur day nights to ice skate, dine and watch Santa rappel down Macy’s as part of its weekly “Down town Dazzle.”

“People were expecting downright awful,” Ginsburg said of merchants. “What we had was a year that wasn’t as good as years in the past but it wasn’t as bad as expected. And it wasn’t as bad as other places, either.”

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