COMMENTARY: Setting the record straight on Landis Avenue
Russell Swanson
As the executive director of the Vineland Downtown Improvement District (VDID)/Main Street Vineland, I want to correct some erroneous statements that appeared in some of the articles in The Daily Journal over the past several weeks.
Our door is always open for discussion and working for the betterment of our downtown and our city. A clarification and setting straight of the record, however, is necessary regarding certain issues and statements that have appeared in print.
Landis MarketPlace — The VDID is not responsible for the management of Landis MarketPlace. The landlord of the market has been the Vineland Development Corp. (VDC), and that entity has had the authority to make decisions regarding the property. In reality, deal after deal was made with the Amish Market — even to the point of cutting their rent in half, in addition to significant resources allocated to marketing and advertising. The Amish were not profitable, and internal mismanagement existed that led to their decision to close before the expiration of their lease. The amount of real estate taxes paid to the city is unchanged and is not conditioned upon whether the tenant occupies the building.
The Spot — The perilous state of Landis MarketPlace led directly into the birth of The Spot. After the Amish pulled out, only a handful of non-Amish vendors were left. Some of the other vendors left for other communities and others went out of business. The VDC already had made the decision to close the market and the remaining vendors could not afford to open up on their own in individual stores. Foot traffic was nonexistent after the Amish Market closed.
The idea for The Spot, however, predated this problem. The idea was to make The Spot a sort of second Landis MarketPlace, dealing with arts, crafts, etc., while the original Landis MarketPlace would deal with food vendors. Several meetings took place to discuss this, as well as initiatives to look for someone to open and manage this type of market several years ago.
I did not open The Spot to "feather my own nest." When the situation with Landis MarketPlace became critical, the few remaining vendors actually came to me seeking a way to stay in business. Had another prospect come along to rent my building and do the same thing, I would have gladly let them do it and am still open to having this discussion. Such a prospect did not come along, so I took it upon myself and invested my own capital to make The Spot a showcase and prototype for other downtown stores, which now houses over 50 unique businesses under one roof.
City-hosted events —While it is true that the Seafood Festival, Ribs 'n' Chili Cook-Off and other such big "feet-on-the-street" events brought thousands of people downtown and were fun, they did not fulfill one of the objectives they were designed to fulfill: bring people into the downtown businesses. In the end, the businesses did not profit from these events. The street closings inconvenience the businesses. The planning and arranging of volunteers to plan, set up, staff and break down for these events became ever more laborious.
The VDID decided to spend time and effort creating micro-events that are fun and bring people downtown but, at the same time, are business-related and business-friendly. Our Wedding Weekend is a good example of such an event. We are discussing such events as health fairs, car care events, and other such events that are fun but, at the same time, allow us to help and partner with our businesses. Main Street New Jersey also is moving away from advocating the big events, in favor of such smaller events.
We also have our monthly Fourth Friday events, where we have partnered with the Vineland Health Department for a fitness event and a film. We also recently had a Pumpkin Patch Event. For both of these and others in the future, we are making use of our downtown mini-parks to bring that back to the use for which they originally were conceived. We also have Merchant Meet-and-Greets at various downtown businesses, and these events are now open to the public.
This is not to say that larger events are no longer being done here. We still are hosting Cruise Down Memory Lane and the Holiday Parade. These are iconic events that will continue. Also, we support private events, such as the Cinco de Mayo festival and the new Mexican Independence Day commemoration. We partnered in bringing back the Jersey Fresh Festival, a successful event that shows that a major event like that does not have to be on Landis Avenue.
Landis Theater — The VDID, as with Landis MarketPlace, is not involved with the management of the Landis Theater. I can say with pride, though, that those who were among the 550 people in the audience at the theater recently for the Bay Atlantic Symphony's first concert in its new Cumberland County performance venue see that the Landis Theater is a vital part of the rebranding of our downtown as "The Ave." The Bay Atlantic Symphony is performing five concerts at the theater this season, and our office played a major role in making our downtown and the Landis Theater a hub for the symphony's activities. Work is taking place aggressively to bring more shows — headline and community attractions — to the theater, a true way to celebrate the its 80th anniversary this coming March.
Vacancies — Our downtown vacancy rate is approximately 10 percent — far from the figure in one of the articles that would have put our vacancy rate at about 30 percent. While we are proud of our low vacancy rate, we are not sitting contentedly. Our office constantly seeks quality, sustainable businesses to fill the available properties that we have. We do not necessarily have, however, enough available properties to fit every need. That is a good problem, in a way. We have had three broker tours in the past year or so that have been very successful. The opening of our downtown's latest restaurant/bistro — Mauro's on the Ave, next to the Landis Theater — was the result of one of our broker tours.
Police and safety — We are very proud of the great job that the Vineland Police Department —specifically the Community Policing group, who dedicate officers to our downtown — is doing to keep our downtown safe. By all statistical accounts, our downtown is a very safe place in which to live, work, shop and enjoy. The recent addition of several Class I officers — along with the other officers who make up the Community Policing team — can be seen daily on foot patrol, bicycle, on Segway and T3 scooters, and police cars in our downtown district.
Restaurants and other night activity — A key component of our Fourth Friday event encouraging more merchants, restaurants and other venues to stay open late, run specials and share in the festivities. We have our Dine on Landis promotion and now we are rolling out our Outdoor Dining program with monetary incentives for restaurants to create attractive outdoor dining areas in front of their businesses. Just as The Spot was conceived as a model for businesses of its type, Friends & Family Diner, at 601 E. Landis Ave., is the prototype for this initiative. We want to see more of these attractive dining areas to make our downtown a day and night spot for people to enjoy a meal. With more attention to our mini-parks, we want to bring more activity — concerts, festivals, etc. — to our downtown during the day and evening.
All of our meetings are open to the public and we invite input and discussion. I would be more than happy to discuss any of these and other initiatives that are on our agenda to make our downtown the best it can be. The progress has started. You can see it and you will see more. Come to The Ave and, more than what you read, see for yourself.
Russell Swanson is executive director of Vineland Downtown Improvement District/Main Street Vineland.