[media-credit name=’TAYLOR HUGHES/Herald illustration’ align=’alignright’ width=’336′][/media-credit]Madison has been classified as everything from Sports Illustrated on Campus’s Best College Sports Town to the Princeton Review’s No. 1 party school, but what category does State Street fit into? A combination of small specialty shops, large name-brand stores, theaters and bars galore, the definition of State Street is ever changing.

And with the recent closing of 29-year-old Madison original The Den and the opening of national stores like Reebok and Ben & Jerry’s, the future of State Street’s eclectic mix of local businesses seems uncertain for some store owners.

Brenda Kasmar-Ehlers, co-owner of Larry B’s, said she does not enjoy passing by a chain store when walking down State Street. Kasmar-Ehlers, who moved to Madison from Fort Atkinson, Wis., for her business, said she knew her family-run restaurant would be welcomed by the city when it opened at 617 State St. last spring.

“Madison was not real thrilled with the chains coming in,” Kasmar-Ehlers said. “I think people come to State Street to see the uniqueness of it. Every time we put another chain in, there goes a little bit of that uniqueness.”

But Greta Olson, ambassador program coordinator for the business-improvement district of Downtown Madison, Inc., said although many people like to think chain stores are taking over State Street, “it’s not a reality.”

According to DMI, in 1998, 87 percent of downtown businesses were locally owned. Last year, 86 percent were locally owned.

“Business turnover always happens, but that percentage of local and franchise is always the same,” Olson said.

Kasmar-Ehlers said it is “really hard” to compete with chain stores. Chains may be the only ones who can afford the increasing rent on State Street, she added, calling her rent “outrageous.”

But Olson said when 17 locally owned businesses closed last year, 15 locally owned businesses opened to replace them. After two franchise stores closed, five opened.

Olson said the 400 to 700 blocks of State Street have the most franchises and the fewest locally owned businesses, which are mainly restaurants. With restaurants like Subway and Chin’s close to campus, these blocks are frequented by many students.

“Students on a budget want quick food,” Olson said.

Kasmar-Ehlers said there is less of a reason for people to visit State Street with the addition of each new chain store. With the added hassle of parking, she questioned why customers would choose visiting a State Street store if they could drive to West Towne or East Towne Mall.

“Little stores with unique things — that’s why you come to Madison,” she said. “You can go to The Gap [anywhere].”

UW sophomore Kevin Clarke agrees with Kasmar-Ehlers and said he wishes chain stores would stay on the outskirts of Madison in large shopping centers.

“I would say that local and family-owned businesses are the heart of a place like State Street,” Clarke said. “They make the street what it is.”

But Susan Schmitz, president of Downtown Madison, Inc., said chain stores could potentially benefit locally owned businesses.

“[Reebok] could bring a lot of traffic to the area, and that foot traffic spills over to the other businesses,” Schmitz said. “The right mix of chains is not so bad.”

Schmitz pointed out that many of the business spaces on State Street are very small, which will prevent chain stores from moving in. Reebok was able to move into Roses-R-Red’s old location at 502 State St. because it is a fairly large space by State Street standards, she added.

Beer, brats and Wisconsin T-shirts

Susan Springman, president of Executive Management, Inc., said retail trends on State Street have changed from locally owned department stores such as Manchester’s to locally owned specialty stores.

Specialty stores are one of the “biggest assets” to State Street, but that may present problems for people who live in the downtown area and don’t like to drive out to the west side to do the rest of their shopping, according to Springman.

“You have to be able to give people a wide variety of products,” Springman said. “We have a broader base of residents downtown than just students. You need certain goods and services that are lacking downtown to support the residential base.”

More people are living downtown than 20 years ago due to the addition of student high-rise housing options on West Gorham Street, University Avenue and new high-rise condominiums around the Capitol Square.

Students and residents alike want to be able to walk to stores and need goods and services close by, Springman said. Many students have to take a bus or cab or wait until they go home to buy certain products.

“I think we need more of a product mix,” she said. “There are lots of products you can’t get downtown on State Street.”

Clarke said it would be nice to have a large grocery store near campus. He said even though a chain store would “kill the atmosphere” of State Street, there are still many things he can’t buy on State Street.

“It would be nice if something would compete with Walgreens so we [could] get better prices and more products,” Clarke said.

Kasmar-Ehlers said Walgreens “does what they can,” but agrees State Street needs a store where students can buy towels, for example. She said she would encourage “an old Ben Franklin-style” drug store, offering a variety of products that aren’t currently available on State Street.

Schmitz said she remembers being a student at UW. There were always plenty of restaurants, clothing and jewelry stores on State Street, but she left the downtown area to buy anything else.

If a store like Target came downtown, was in the right place and was the right size, students wouldn’t need to go out to the west side to go shopping, she added.

UW senior Katie Gavle said she is a customer of both local grocery stores and chain stores because she has a car. Gayle noted taking a trip by bus to a grocery store is much longer than by car and not convenient for most students.

However, she said local grocery stores are more expensive and students would “waste a lot of money shopping there for everything.”

“I think that it would be convenient for students without access to a car to have the ability to buy basic needs on campus,” Gavle said. “That doesn’t mean that it has to be a big chain like Target or Copps.”

From the KK to The Dane

The unique mix of businesses on State Street brings many different customers to the area. From students buying books at the University Bookstore to families seeing a show at the Overture Center for the Arts to business people stopping at Starbucks off the Capitol Square before work, each part of State Street has a different set of customers.

The Capitol Square, near the 100 block of State Street, is comprised of the highest percentage of restaurants and bars (43 percent) and the lowest percentage of retail space (16 percent) of all the State Street areas.

“It’s pretty obvious that’s what people are wanting,” Schmitz said of the area, which tends to attract an older crowd with bars and restaurants like The Great Dane and Brocach Irish Pub.

Schmitz said if there is too high a percentage of bars in one area, there can be issues in terms of “behavior problems” and crime.

Though Capitol Square retail space consists primarily of bars and restaurants, State Street follows close behind. According to DMI, bars and restaurants comprised 34 percent of the 100 to 300 blocks in 2004 and 38 percent of the 400 to 700 blocks.

“Sure, people want bars and restaurants, and they like the entertainment value, but they don’t get active until nighttime,” Schmitz said. “If you want a really healthy, active street, you need a healthy balance of businesses so it can be as busy at noon as it is at midnight.”

The percentage of retail and service spaces versus restaurant and bar space has remained about the same since 1998, DMI said. The street was 61 percent retail and service stores in 2004, compared to 39 percent bars and restaurants.

Though some question the jumble of businesses on State Street, and larger locations such as Moe’s Southwest Grill, The Den and Pizza Hut remain vacant, Springman said the future looks hopeful for local owners.

“As long as there’s a good mix of locally owned unique specialty stores mixed in with some key nationals that provide goods that aren’t in the marketplace, I think we’ll have a stronger downtown, and it will help the local businesses in the long run,” Springman said.