AUBURN - As if the numerous For Lease and For Sale signs weren't discouraging enough for long-time residents, Nolan's Sporting Goods - a Genesee Street mainstay for 50 years - has just replaced it's seasonal window dressing with a yellow and black sign which sadly shouts: "Going out of business."
Many Auburnians can recall the bustling energy of downtown before urban renewal drove a wedge into the city's heart and big-box retailers staked out the fringes.
"A lot of people are bemoaning the fact that there is no retail businesses left downtown. Get used to it. There is not going to be any," said John Bouck of Bouck Real Estate.
Family downtown retail businesses are closing in small towns everywhere, he explained. Major retail chains are building on the outskirts of these towns, where there is more space to build, more parking, and increased traffic.
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Like others, Bob Nolan has blamed his store's demise primarily on Wal-Mart and other corporate retailers. Last May, Nolan's Family Shoe Store closed its doors.
Auburn Downtown Business Improvement District Executive Director Sandra Craner called the most recent Nolan's closing a sad loss, but not a death-knell as some have predicted.
"He's the one everyone identifies as being the last holdout," she said.
"He's not the last one. There's still Speno's Music, The Liberty Store, and Sam's Shoes that have been around for many years."
Part of her job in recruiting and maintaining current businesses is combating negative opinion.
"It's very hard. The perception is what you have to overcome. If they perceive it is failing, that's what they go with," she said.
While retail has been slipping away, a number of other businesses have been slowly popping up along Genesee Street, including The Mahogany Table restaurant, the Bayer & Sedor law firm, and the Data Transformers Internet providers.
In the Genesee Center Mall, NY Hair Studio, Finger Lakes Dermatology and doctors offices have helped fill some vacant spots.
"The core areas are becoming professional districts with physicians, lawyers, governmental organizations and a few others," Bouck said. "Luckily, Auburn has a fairly small downtown that really absorbs these professions. And, you're going to see more of them."
In fact, Bouck said the downtown district is not as empty as it was just five years ago.
"Most of the space is leased compared to five or six years ago when the Genesee Mall and the Metcalf Plaza (on Genesee Street) had major vacancies," he said.
Contrary to public opinion, Bouck sees downtown getting stronger, including the addition of a 2,000-square-foot shipping and copy service center in the Metcalf Plaza.
"The way to study a downtown is not the number of retail businesses, but how well the buildings are maintained and what do they look like," he said. "Downtown is very attractive. We don't have boarded up buildings here."
Auburn Planning Board Director Steve Lynch is continuing to promote Genesee Street, with a focus on niche and specialty businesses.
He's quick to list positive examples of revitalized downtown areas, such as Armory Square in Syracuse, which shook off urban decay to usher in night life and restaurants, and Saratoga Springs, which made a tremendous comeback with public improvements and race track offerings.
He acknowledges Auburn hasn't found its draw yet.
"There's not much of a hook right now. It's a small compact downtown surrounded by viable residential neighborhoods. It's got all of the government, professional services, significant historic components, a museum, a post office. It's got a lot of the raw materials to hold it steady," he said.
Lynch had high hopes for both the dilapidated Kalet's building, which is set for $308,000 in community development grants, and Nolan's property, which may benefit from federal funds to beautify the area. Craner is also optimistic for the future of the Nolan's building, which is centrally located with ample parking. She can envision any number of businesses moving into the building, including a department store, a bakery, an ice cream shop, or a bookstore.
Lynch is also listening to comments that the Owasco Outlet should be incorporated into the city grid.
The city is drafting a comprehensive plan.
"We're looking for ways to reunite the river with the urban space around it, making it more accessible for fisherman and making it a public amenity he said.
Lynch and Craner were given some advice by area residents.
"What downtown needs is some people. You have no traffic downtown," said long-time Auburn resident Frank Mucedola, who runs an accordion studio.
Specifically, he urged the city to redirect Route 20 along Genesee Street. With the increased traffic, someone might stop for coffee at Dunkin' Donuts or a bite at Hunter's Dinerant.
Auburn's Rick Spriggs has a more philosophical outlook.
"I drive into a downtown the size of Auburn - or smaller - and tell my wife and kids, 'This is what America really is,'" he said.
Spriggs, who traveled often during a 40-year Army career, considers places like Auburn much more emblematic of the country than any metropolis could ever be. He remembers when businesses came to a neighborhood to serve the people that lived there, not the other way around.
"We seem to have given away our identity, our traditions, old family businesses, the values that have become this nation's heritage," he said.
