Businesses brace for survival

DOWNTOWN — As city officials and eager shoppers get ready to roll out the red carpet for the May 2 opening of the Americana at Brand, downtown merchants in the “mid-Brand Boulevard” district are making their own preparations to avoid getting lost in the fray as the city’s commercial center repositions itself on Caruso Way.

Champions of the $435-million residential, retail and entertainment titan have trumpeted the project’s presumed magnet effect that will draw scores of shoppers to Glendale, maybe for the first time. But as those new consumers make their way south off the Ventura (134) Freeway onto Brand Boulevard, some merchants wonder whether those cars will take interest in the hundreds of shops that have lined the boulevard for years, or just head straight for the Americana.

“I think people that are going to the Americana, they aren’t going to look to the right or left at us,” said Jerome Joseph, owner of the Brand Bookshop in the 200 block of North Brand Boulevard. “The only thing I know is it will create more traffic on Brand which is bad enough now . . . .If it’s hard to get down here it might deter some people.”

Leaders of the Downtown Glendale Merchants Assn., which represents about 25 of the approximately 250 downtown businesses between Colorado Street and the Ventura (134) Freeway, have been preparing for the Americana era for at least the past year, association president Harry Hall said.

The collective launched a new website last year in hopes of creating a one-stop online resource for all things downtown Glendale, said Elissa Glickman, marketing director for the Alex Theatre, who also heads marketing for the merchants association.

And instead of spending large chunks of its budget on direct advertising, the association has channeled most of its resources and time into organizing downtown community events like the Downtown Dash 5K charity race, which brought at least 600 people to the mid-Brand area when it debuted in March, Hall said. The group hopes to continue that approach in the coming years by organizing new events and relocating long-standing Glendale events like Unity Fest to downtown, he said.

“We think that’s the best way to market downtown, other than providing quality goods and services, to get people in the habit of being on the boulevard,” Hall said.