Chain reaction: Local shops fear impact of corporate businesses

Downtown shop owners fear corporate impact

Rising rents are raising concerns among downtown shop owners.Rich Beauchesne/rbeauchesne@seacoastonline.com

While the Golden Arches might not be making an appearance in downtown Portsmouth any time soon, there is always a concern among developers, Realtors and business owners that the city might stray too far from what provides its unique and vibrant character.

Rent can range from $1,000 to nearly $10,000 a month for commercial space downtown. It's a struggle for retailers selling books, T-shirts and trinkets to make enough sales to pay the bills, as the recent move of RiverRun Bookstore and the closure of Earthtec proved.

With rents climbing ever higher and the economy still not back to its pre-recession strength, there are some in the downtown community who worry about the fate of the small, independent business owner. There is anxiety that only restaurants or corporate-backed businesses will be able to afford downtown real estate, and that once a space converts from retail to restaurant, it will never revert back and Portsmouth will have forever lost a bit of its diversity.

In fact, those representing the voices of entrepreneurs, real estate brokers and city officials all agree there are legitimate reasons for concern.

A store going out of business is not a rare sight. Some are fledgling businesses that never quite got off the ground. Others, like Little Timber: The Bonsai Nature Store, were forced to close after being in business for years.

Landlords "just care about getting as much money as they can," said Valerie Menzies-Murphy of Haverhill, Mass., who owned the Little Timber shop on Congress Street for 20 years before closing it in January. "These little stores can't afford to stay in business."

Menzies-Murphy said her rent, originally $800 a month, went up only sporadically for years. But by the beginning of 2012, it had ballooned to $3,000 a month. Meanwhile, her prices stayed the same and her profit disappeared.

"People loved the store," she said. "There was something for everyone, from little kids all the way on up. I think they'll miss me this summer."

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Chain reaction: Local shops fear impact of corporate businesses