Pearl Street businesses persevere in bad economy, bad winter

On a sunny day the Pearl Street mall in downtown Boulder is a bustling and busy place, but with a bad economy and cold weather, it can be a difficult place to do business.

Eighty-five percent of Boulder's businesses are locally owned and operated, which makes the town fairly unique, but can also cause a headache for those who run it. The outdoor walking mall takes a hit when cold weather discourages people from coming out. "When the weather is great and it is sunny, I can sell sandwiches and ice cream," said Lindsay Shaw, owner of Lindsay's Boulder Deli. "But when it snows like this weekend, it's like, shoot me in the head."

Not only is the cold weather affecting business, so is the economy. "It's definitely down," said Henry Schliff, a Salvaggio Deli manager. "It didn't get hit for quite awhile here. We had it much delayed from the rest of the country, but it's definitely hit within the past six months or so."

Business managers also have to overcome their location on the mall in order to be competitive with other stores. "The way people tend to move on Pearl Street they kind of move down toward the West End as the night progresses," said Julien Smith, general manager of Pearl Street's Illegal Pete's. "It's sort of trying to keep people here for longer."

However, owners and managers do offer a solution to some of their winter woes. "I think the best thing for people to do would be just to come down here and visit the local businesses as opposed to others," said Schliff.

Pearl Street is holding the Lights of December Parade on December 5th, just one of the events that will draw costumers down to the mall.