Green Tomato dies on the vine

Is Coventry, Shaker Square's indie edge threatened?

Add The Green Tomato to the list of independent retail stores shuttering their doors this year. The Coventry Road purveyor of super cool and kitschy items from Hello Kitty to Smart Women will close permanently in the next couple of months.

Many reasons influenced owner Gayle Lewis’ decision to close, including escalating rents on Coventry and competition from corporate mall chains.

The news adds to a spate of recent independent retail closings or relocations including Shaker Square’s Balaton Restaurant, Phil the Fire, and Lush Boutique (moved to Legacy Village). Is this a natural cycle in the economy or are other forces at play?

In some cases, high rents, a poor economy, bad business decisions or recent news that Shaker Square is being sold may have started an outmigration of tenants. On Coventry, not all buildings (or landlords) are equal. The tenants in the building owned by Tommy Fello (including Record Revolution and High Tide Rock Bottom) reportedly enjoy stable rents. Meanwhile, the building where Green Tomato operates and the former Free Times building have both changed ownership in the last few years.

In recent years—with the raising of the modern glass and steel ‘mall’ building and the influx of chain stores— complaints that Coventry is losing its independent edge to profiteering landlords have been common.

True or not, the writings of Green Tomato’s landlord would seem to add credence to the claim. J. Scott Scheel, 35, bought the building which houses Renaissance Parlour and Green Tomato a couple of years ago. Scheel admits that he hit rock bottom before buying the building on credit, and makes no secret of his intentions with his investment property. His personal Web site touts his own investment savvy and offers to teach others “how I could buy commercial real estate better, turn it around faster, and learn from OTHER people’s mistakes.”

“Building owners have to lower rents just to get tenants,” Scheel writes, “also driving the value of the buildings down and letting you purchase them at huge discounts. Do you think that once the economy turns around (and it WILL turn around) and all these building owners are enjoying close to 100% occupancy and high monthly rents that they will be desperate to sell at low prices? Of course not!”

With so many issues conspiring against them, how independent stores managed to stay open at all is a small miracle. Developers attribute a little more science than faith: If there are enough customers with cash to burn and not a lot of competition close by, then a store should be feasible. Without knowing the market analysis for Green Tomato, it’s hard to say what is the biggest factor contributing to its demise. Is it a combination of the economy tanking and a lack of traffic on Coventry in the last year?

Lewis blames lower sales this year in part on the economy and on Coventry Road practically being shut down for part of the year when the new street and sidewalks were put in. But, Lewis’ cost to purchase a Hello Kitty t-shirt is a lot higher than her bulk-purchasing mall competitor, Hot Topic, so Green Tomato ends up having to charge more to get by. On top of that, Green Tomato’s rents escalated (in part through Scheel) from $14 per sq. ft Gross to $25 sq. ft Triple Net in five years. Triple Net means she pays part of the building’s taxes, maintenance and insurance. Lewis says a recent bill for $1,500 from the landlord to cover ‘overages’ in the Triple Net rubbed salt in the wound.

Would Coventry be a less viable street if Hot Topic moved in and replaced Green Tomato? Perhaps, and not just because of the vaunted ‘independent spirit’ of Coventry. Common sense dictates that profits for corporate interests that headquarter out of state don’t circulate back through the local economy. Sales taxes and income taxes would be a zero sum gain.

Lewis adds that a shorter shopping season for open air markets versus the climate controlled malls are another factor to consider. Also, a perception that parking doesn’t exist or isn’t convenient has plagued places like the Centrum movie theater on Coventry or Dottie’s Diner on Lee Road (again, other business factors conspired to close both). But, often the walk from the parking lot at the mall is longer than that from the Coventry Road garage, so go figure.

It’s been argued that tenant mix influences the success of a neighborhood retail center. In the case of Coventry, tenant mix has been a mixed bag. Most recently, independent operation Goodies, which serves frozen and baked desserts, opened in the former Coventry Optical space. A month later, Stricklands, an Akron-based frozen custard chain, moves into the space next to CD Warehouse.

Despite that, turnover usually brings a balance of independents (at this writing, Bruce blog noticed a sign above Goodies for another local indie, Fast Eddie’s Chop Shop, a low dough hair salon).

How long they can hold out against the onslaught of chains is anybody’s guess.