City officials and University of North Texas students are working to try to find ways to promote local businesses impacted by street construction.
Construction for the “grand street” project to improve East Hickory Street began in December and is running behind schedule. The improvement work has hurt sales because people think it is too difficult to get through the construction to shop or eat, said Julie Glover, economic development program administrator for the city.
“We know there are issues that go along with [construction],” she said. “People have a perception that it’s difficult and torn up, so we’re trying to get the education out there that it’s not hard to get here, and if you want these businesses here in six months, you need to get down there.”
The project will help businesses once it’s completed, Glover said. Sidewalks will be wider, bike racks will be added and there will be other physical improvements, in addition to new electrical, sewer and water lines.
In conjunction with the Denton Convention and Visitors Bureau, the city recently launched a mobile app called “Dig Little d” to promote businesses in the area and show where people can park. This also connects with another app, Foursquare, where businesses can tell users about daily specials and promote themselves to downtown visitors, Glover said.
The city is adding signs to say businesses are open, and city officials are working with a UNT public relations class to come up with new promotional ideas to bring business back to East Hickory. Staff have also been gathering ideas from other communities in similar situations to see what else can help promote the businesses.
While Glover said these efforts began last year, John Ryan, a Denton City Council member and the owner of Vigne Wine Shop, said he hasn’t seen much help from city staff to promote the businesses. Poor communication is the biggest problem, he said, and it wasn’t resolved until after a City Council meeting last week.
“They’re coming in a little late on this,” Ryan said.
The City Council briefly considered last week whether to amend the construction contract to pay for two work shifts a day to speed up the project.
The option would cost about $400,000 and shave about four weeks. In other words, instead of finishing at the end of February, the project could be finished in January.
Staff cautioned that the additional shift could be noisy for downtown residents and could also inconvenience evening and night customers.
Since the additional cost and inconvenience wouldn’t get the project done before the holiday shopping season, the council decided the extra cost wouldn’t be a good trade-off.
However, the council did ask John Davis, the city’s director of engineering, to look for possible incentives to reward the contractor for accelerating the work. If something can be found, Davis agreed to bring the information back to the council for further consideration.
Ryan also suggested that crews work four 10-hour days, so there isn’t construction on Fridays, which are busy days for the East Hickory businesses.
Ryan said he isn’t sure if increased promotion and marketing efforts from the city would help boost business. Increased communication, though, would help business owners know how much they should staff on certain days and how much food to order, he said.
“I’m hopeful that we can get a schedule we can believe in,” Ryan said. “It’s been a constant change all along. I’m hopeful that after that meeting, and at least monthly council work sessions on that, it should at least help businesses operate productively.”
JENNA DUNCAN can be reached at 940-566-6889 and via Twitter at @JennaFDuncan.
