A TOWN DIVIDED - Small Business and Corporate Presence Square Off

Nearly two months after Basically Burgers was forced from its 12 East State St. location, and approximately $70,000 later in renovations and lost profits, the son-and-pop burger shop finally reopened in a space more than twice the size of and a block away from its original location. “We found this [space] – thank God,” says Jay Goddard, who co-owns the restaurant with his father, Wes, of their new 33 North Main St. location, next to Maxwell’s on Main. “This was a blessing in disguise.”

Despite Basically Burger’s ability to pull through the costly relocation and 51 days of no business, their plight has become the tipping point for the face-off between small local business and corporate presence after it was learned a Subway franchise would fill its former home. The issue has sparked a heated debate over whether or not corporations or their franchises have a place in Doylestown, and if so, what that place may be. Now, Doylestown officials, business owners and residents are left scratching their heads over whether something should or even could be done to preserve the borough’s all-American, small-town charm.

If They Build It, Will You Come?
“The centers of small towns shouldn’t look like replicas of malls and these fake villages like the one they built in Warrington,” says Siren Records owner Blair Elliot, who has owned the Doylestown-based record store for 20 years. And fellow independent business owner Sharon Appel, who bought Coffee and Cream 10 years ago, agrees. “You need a ‘wow’ factor, and Subway is not a ‘wow’ factor.”

Coffee and Cream, which operated under a different owner for nearly 15 years before Appel took over in 2000, is in direct competition with three chains: Starbucks, Saxby’s and Rita’s, all of which are less than a block away from her store, and all of which replaced locally owned stores. The trio is on the ever-growing roster of national and regional chains located in the borough’s downtown, including but not limited to The Gap, Chico’s and Primo Hoagies.

Though their proximity and products certainly put a dent in Appel’s business, she says the real question is need. Appel says there’s no need having numerous chains that offer the same products and services that independent businesses already provide. Subway will join a small army of sandwich shops – located only three blocks from Steak and Hoagie Factory, two blocks from Hoagie Works and one block from Primo Hoagies. Appel believes the right combination of chains and local businesses makes for a healthy small town. “I think this town is a good mix of mom-and-pop businesses and corporations,” Appel says, admitting that businesses like The Gap and Chico’s drive traffic to her shop. “Unfortunately, small towns need some corporations, because small businesses don’t have brand equity.”

For Elliot, who supports all three coffee shops via his wallet, both of the coffee giants bring customers to his store. Patrons consistently browse his music selection with Starbucks’ and Saxby’s coffee in hand. Though Elliot and Appel don’t think that the locally owned Subway franchise, which is scheduled to open just one block from both of their stores by the end of July, will in any way benefit the town’s character or add variety to the borough, they believe the issue is larger than the Subway franchise itself.

“I really could care less about Subway,” Elliot says. “What I care about is the idea that the landlord chose to bring in a national chain and pushed out a homegrown, independent business to go for the ‘big buck.’”

Money Talks, Small Business Walks
According to Elliot, evidence that local building owners are failing to consider the overall good of the local community surfaced this past spring in an incident between the Subway location’s building owner and a local business looking to rent the two-floor property directly next to the former Basically Burgers. In March, Buckingham Township resident Tony Chase, an estimator for a local land development company, was charged by his employers, owners of two successful local construction companies and several smaller businesses themselves, of looking into potential rentals for their latest business venture.

Their plan was to install a high-end video game boutique with a party room that kids could rent out for special occasions. When the State Street location went up for rent, the company was thrilled. “We figured this would be great for Doylestown,” Chase says. “I mean how many people have to drive to Warrington to buy video games?” The proposed store was going to have eight TVs with video game consoles upstairs and six downstairs, which would be designated as the party room. “We had a thorough business plan,” Chase continues. “We already met with a fit-out company that designs interiors for Reebok and Best Buy.”

According to Chase, after a month of back-and-forth contact with the building owner through a local property management company, Chase’s company offered to sign a five-year lease with the landlord, who was initially looking for a tenant to sign on for only one year. Chase’s company also planned to spend between $30,000 and $50,000 on renovating the property’s interior, which, he explained to the landlord, would leave the building in better condition than when they entered the lease.

Chase asked the property management company to draw up the five-year agreement, but then the landlord backed out. “The whole thing was going to cost close to $300,000 [the value of the proposed lease, the planned renovations and start-up costs], and I had just received the go-ahead to do it,” Chase says. “And it was just squashed.”

According to Chase, the property management company told him that the landlord thought the store would create too much traffic, and, after looking at a local GameStop, their business wouldn’t be a good fit for the building.

“That was it,” Chase says. “You have like 300 teenagers sitting on the porch across the street at Starbucks, so why not instead let them come into and spend money at the store?”

After they were denied the property, Chase compiled additional information for the building’s owner, outlining their prospective clientele and desired “look” for the store, but the landlord remained disinterested.

According to Elliot, the landlord’s reason for not wanting the new, locally owned business contradicts his decision to rent out the neighboring property to a Subway franchise. “They turned down Tony [Chase] based on those facts but then brought in a Subway?” Elliot asks, laughing. “Who do they think is going to Subway? It’s going to be teenagers and lots of them.”

What’s in a Chain?
While Subway’s corporate influence might be evident in its recognizable commercial jingles and logos, it’s easy to forget that they are indeed franchises. Sean van Bastelaar, a Doylestown resident and owner of the borough location and another in Northeast Philadelphia, wants everyone to remember that he’s a local business owner, too. “I’m not a big corporation,” he explains, who says that he’s actively involved in the community through the schools and his children’s sports. “I have a wife and three children with another one on the way.”

Both sides of the issue are busy facing off on the Facebook group page “No Subway In Doylestown” – which was created by Elliot in early May and has since garnered nearly 1,700 members – supporting local commercial properties owners in Doylestown as part of the business community. One post reads: “The person who owns the building in Doylestown is a local business owner…He or she chooses who they want as a tenant.”

However, the discussion comes full-circle as image again comes to the forefront of the issue. A post in response reads: “You’re right. As a business owner, he should have the freedom to rent to whoever is going to pay the bills. But there is a role that business owners must play in maintaining the cultural heritage in our communities, especially when they run a business [or] own a property in a historical district [or] area.”

A Question of Character
With such heated discussion brewing via the internet, the borough council elected to have a discussion of its own. “We treat every business, whether it’s a mom-and-pop shop or a corporation, exactly the same,” explains Doylestown Borough Manager John Davis.

Though the council has never enacted an ordinance regulating corporate presence in Doylestown, they do keep an eye on the balance between the chains and the local businesses. “Fundamentally, what we’re looking for is whether we’re achieving that balance,” Davis adds. “Up to now, we feel like we have a very good balance.”

But Doylestown Borough Councilman Dennis McCauley, who originally brought the issue to the council’s attention, doesn’t necessarily agree that the harmony is safe.

“My concern was the historical district and the town’s quaint character,” he says. McCauley fears that in 10 years, borough residents and visitors alike will be staring at a multitude of corporate locations and chains while standing on the corner of State and Main. “We’ve got a responsibility,” McCauley says, on the role of the borough council. “Tax payers and voters have basically entrusted the town to us and given us stewardship to keep the town as economically viable as possible.” But if a town has nothing unique to offer, McCauley explains, the local economy will fail.

Though McCauley is concerned that the town’s balance is in jeopardy, he makes it clear that he has nothing against the new Subway franchise or van Bastelaar. “The Subway-Basically Burgers issue gave the overall issue some timeliness, but there was never the intent to block Subway,” McCauley clarifies. “I wish the gentleman the best of luck and hope he does well.” He also supports some corporate presence in town. “I go to Starbucks almost every day,” he says. “It’s a good establishment in a historic building, and I think they’ve managed it well.”

McCauley’s biggest concern, which he shares with Elliot, is the threat of an eventual overall rent increase in the buildings, which only large chains would be able to afford. “What can happen is that you get one or two national companies in there with deep pockets, and the landlord jacks up the rent,” he explains. “All of a sudden, independent business owners can’t afford to rent the buildings.”

And on a much larger scale, Elliot finds that prospect frightening. “Small businesses are the backbone of this country,” he says, adding that, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration, of the 26.8 million businesses in the country: 89.3 percent have fewer than 20 employees, and of those, 78.6 percent have fewer than 10. “If we allow them to be pushed out, we are going to have some serious problems.”