TEMPE, AZ — Businesses along Mill Avenue were counting on two things to turn their fortunes around: the return of Arizona State University students from summer break and the end of a lengthy downtown construction project.
Both have arrived — but for many storefronts and restaurants, the customers haven’t fully followed yet.
Jesse Salazar, general manager of Daily Jam, told ABC15 in June that sales were down 70% during the Downtown Tempe Refresh construction period and extreme summer heat. He says there has been a slight uptick at the breakfast and lunch joint since then, but not the surge he was hoping for.
Salazar noted that many restaurants base their business model on turning first-time customers into repeat guests.
“You got to get them in the door first. And that’s always a struggle,” Salazar said.
The Downtown Tempe Authority acknowledged the road to recovery has been a long one shaped by subsequent setbacks.
“It’s a multi-year challenge—a series of challenges, I like to say—that’s built up over a couple of years where we just haven’t had a break to recover,” President and CEO Lori Foster said.
The challenges began with streetcar construction, followed by the pandemic, and then two years of work on the Downtown Tempe Refresh project — each one chipping away at foot traffic and turning customers away.
“We need more people on the street to come back and think about, when they want to eat, when they want to shop, when they want to do things, downtown Tempe and Mill Avenue is the place to be,” Foster said.
Events and marketing campaigns have been the primary tactics employed by the authority, Tempe Chamber of Commerce, and city to drive foot traffic back to the historic corridor.
The Mill Avenue Coalition has also formed to unite businesses along the corridor to find solutions to drawing customers back. Foster said the authority has not had any formal communication with the coalition but would “love to be involved.”
“[Businesses] are the best ones to tell their story, and we are happy to help amplify that,” Foster said.
There are signs of progress. The Downtown Tempe Authority says 17 new businesses will open within the next eight months, leading to a marginal drop in the corridor’s vacancy rate: from 12% earlier this year to 10% today. Two of those leases were signed in the last three days, Foster said.
For newer shops like Lizard Head Trading Company, which expanded to its Mill Ave. location in March—just three years after its Durango, Colo. location got its start—success has come from carving out a niche and relying on word of mouth from loyal customers.
“First, [you] have to let the community get to know that you’re around,” CFO Rubi Vega said. “And then from there, take it to the next step where you’re participating in the community.”
For Lizard Head, which buys, sells, and trades clothes and accessories, that means hosting community-oriented clothing swaps. One such event runs at the storefront from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. this Sunday.
With cooler weather on the way and ASU students beginning to venture out, there is cautious optimism along the corridor, while businesses like Lizard Head enjoy a faithful following.
“We’re eager to have more [ASU students] around, but they’re the ones that we’re seeing slowly trickle in,” Vega said.
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