By Jen Ross
New members on the Sparks Street Mall merchants’ management board are vowing to put the spark back into the popular pedestrian mall.
“We have a new vision and we’re going to start a fresh new campaign,” says Albert Gabbay, owner of Albert Opticians and one of seven new members on the 16-member board elected in late November. “We’ve got new people and new ideas and I think you’re going to see a spicier, more active board than ever.”
For years, Sparks Street merchants have struggled to find new ways to attract customers. The merchants’ management board was formed in 1965, shortly after the street was turned into a pedestrian-only walkway.
But many merchants say the board hasn’t done much to draw in customers in recent years.
“I don’t go to the meetings because it’s just a bunch of people screaming about this and that,” says Nello Granata, owner of Granata Music. “We need free parking, we need standardized hours for all or most stores. Sparks Street needs a major overhaul if business is going to improve. This new board has some new blood. Hopefully they’ll make more progress.”
The new board members, elected on the heels of last year’s municipal election, began their mandate Jan. 1.
Other changes to the board include scrapping the old position of executive director and replacing it with a general manager. The new general manager will be more directly accountable to the board.
William Cornet, owner of Classico UOMO men’s wear and another new member on the board, says such administrative changes should help give the board a clearer mandate. He also says the new board will try to get less involved in political battles.
“In the past, I think a lot of merchants saw the board more as a platform for politics and that’s not what it should be,” says Cornet.
David Appotive concedes that the board should be less involved in politics. He served on the board during the last three-year term and was re-elected in November.
“We have to stay away from getting involved in issues like the casino that we really have no control over,” says Appotive. “We’re going to refocus our attention on what’s good for business and the community.”
The new board also promises to take a more aggressive approach in selling Sparks Street to customers.
“We don’t want to say that the people before us didn’t do their job properly,” explains Gabbay, who is also the new chairman for the board’s advertising and promotion committee. “We just have a different philosophy and hopefully it will work better.”
Gabbay met with past and present members of the advertising and promotion committee Jan. 16 to brainstorm and discuss new approaches for marketing the mall.
The board was to have held a general meeting earlier this week to hash out plans with mall merchants and recruit new members for their committees.