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Is a Fallbrook Business Improvement District Necessary?
The problem for small town merchants like me is not a the lack of government studies, committees, subcommittees, subsidies and economic plans sponsored by out-of-town politicians done by out-of-town consultants who have never operated a shop or anything other than their laptop and a slide show. The problem is the low volume of retail customer traffic driven by the smallness of the small town itself, further dilution of traffic by malls and chain-led shopping centers, online retailers and the weak economy, essentially in that order. Downtown Fallbrook has an alarmingly high retail vacancy rate and has taken on the early symptoms of becoming a retail ghost town like so many thousands in history before it. However, the merchants that remain here do so because they provide something not easily, if ever, found elsewhere. We provide unusual goods along with a passionate level of personal, owner-led customer service that customers cannot find in chain stores or online. We provide an engaging retail experience that first-time consumers were not aware even existed but are always excited to discover. Downtown Fallbrook is a goldmine of such retail excellence, but most of that gold is largely undiscovered. While annual festivals and periodic classic car events are nice, the traffic benefits received are both incidental and temporary. Yet the experience we small merchants provide is both ongoing and permanent. It simply needs the opportunity for its discovery by consumers from near and afar and in its own right. My goal is to make my shop worth the drive from anywhere. I’m sure I’m not alone. If the government truly wants to support small business and entrepreneurs in the small towns that they otherwise leave for dead, then instead of taxing us it can do precisely the opposite and create tax-free enterprise zones by forgoing all sales tax collection and identifying places like downtown Fallbrook as retail sales tax havens. No one wants to pay taxes anyway and sales tax holidays are a proven retail business builder used tactically. They can be a bonanza for small towns when used strategically. The effect would be an offer of a field-leveling discount that will drive destination-specific demand and retail customer traffic day in, day out. This is a simple and effective way to get consumers to discover and try us out. The rest is up to us.— July 8, 2012 12:31 p.m.