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What is downtown Leesburg?
Downtown Leesburg is struggling. It has lost several stores in the past few months, with five more announcing their closing over a recent one-month period.
Now the town is considering implementing the suggestions of a recent Downtown Improvement Association study. The study essentially recommends streetscape improvements including outside seating, more parking and $400,000 in improvements to the courthouse lawn.
Outside seating and parking couldn't hurt, but we do not think the courthouse lawn is among the town's most dire concerns.
The problem, rather, is that downtown Leesburg is trying to do too many things, so it is doing none of them well.
Is the downtown a business district for local residents? Sort of, but it consists of specialty stores that mostly offer non-essential products -- very nice items, but products most people spend only a small portion of their budget on, especially in tough economic times. Local residents can't support this many specialty businesses.
So is it a tourist shopping destination? Not really -- it does little advertising to tourists, and it doesn’t have the well-articulated focus many shopping destinations have, to stand out from other destinations.
Is it a historic district? Sure, but it doesn’t capitalize on that value as many historic areas do, for example, by offering historic buildings to tour.
Before spending a lot of money on aesthetic improvements, Leesburg should take a better look at its overall goals.
If the town and its businesses want to squeeze more money out of the people who live and work here, they need to serve a greater portion of the residents' needs.
As it is now, people have to drive out of the historic district to buy most of their everyday needs -- the items they spend the biggest portion of their budgets on.
Perhaps the town needs a small grocer with fruits, vegetables, meats and other products from local farms, and a small general store with everyday basics so people won’t run to Rite-Aid or Target for these items.
These stores could be run in keeping with the town’s old-fashioned character, as such places were an integral part of every historic town in its heyday.
We understand that the profit margin is lower on such everyday items, but the town may need to be willing to bring its high rent prices more in keeping with surrounding areas if it wants a thriving business district.
On the other hand, if the town wants to focus its attention on drawing tourists and their pocketbooks, it needs to put much more effort into that.
For starters, Leesburg needs a good marketing campaign.
It also needs specific attractions to draw people here. That could mean more of what it already does, such as historical re-enactments and outside music.
The town also could think more creatively in attracting tourists. Leesburg is drastically under-utilizing its historic value. It could attract many more visitors if it renovated a few old buildings (maybe a house and a store), furnished them authentically and opened them for paid tours.
And to get the most benefit from its tourists, it should work to keep the visitors -- and their wallets -- here overnight at bed-and-breakfasts or inns.
The changes the town has been considering aren't bad, but they don't get to the heart of Leesburg's problems. Few people go anywhere for the chairs -- or the courthouse grounds.
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