You?re not alone if you have noticed the growing quantity of national chain stores pervading State Street.

Rainbow Bookstore employee Allan Ruff said the chain stores have deteriorated the quality of the street.

?I?ve spent the last 30 years here in Madison and have watched the cultural downslide of the street,? Ruff said. By Ruff?s estimation, the trend of national chain stores infiltrating State Street began back in the late 70?s to early 80?s.

Ruff said the homogenization of State Street narrowed consumer choice and contributed to the destruction of a sense of community.

?Rennenbohms (the independent drug store prior to Walgreens) used to have lunch counters that created a social space that built a real sense of community,? Ruff recalled. ?Since such independent stores have been bought out, that sense of community has been obliterated.?

Ruff is not alone in his desire to stop the steady migration of national chains onto State Street. However, Blockbuster Video manager Mike Shesky said national chains did not necessarily destroy the atmosphere of State Street.

?It depends what you think the atmosphere should be,? Shesky reasoned. ?Those who have been here for a long time probably miss all the independent stores, but for recent students who just moved here, it probably doesn?t matter too much.?

Shesky said he liked the current mixture of independent and national chains. ?I like being able to grab a cheap burrito from Taco Bell one day and then being able to go next door to Gino?s [which is family owned] the next day.?

Mindy Lewis of Urban Outfitters said large chains have a lot to offer State Street because of their ability to provide a large variety due to their bigger budgets.

?I think there are pros and cons to both,? Lewis said. ?Right now I think there is a good mix.?

Ald. Todd Jarrell, District 8, said chain stores have negative effects on Madison other than affecting State Street?s character.

?Not only do national chains destroy the character of a place like State Street, but they also drive up rent,? said Jarrell of the Downtown Coordinating Committee. He said he would support an ordinance preventing large corporations from invading State Street, but that at this point there was nothing of the sort on the table. Jarrell explained that nationally and locally owned stores currently follow the same application process with Madison landlords.

The equal application process does not mean that the two store genres have equal access to State Street, however, since skyrocketing rent prices are highly unrealistic for most beginning businesses. Ruff attributed Rainbow Books? location on Gilman Street to the enormous rent difference.

?It would cost triple or quadruple the rent if we tried to move right around the corner,? Ruff said.

Others echoed concerns of rising rent prices downtown, including Todd Seguin of Community Pharmacy.

?In the grand scheme of things I would prefer all independent stores [on State Street] because they make it more special,? Seguin said. ?But I know that is no longer realistic with the high rent prices, especially as more and more corporations move in.?

So how do small independently owned shops survive on State Street?

Michelangelo?s Café owner Sam Schehade said they survive through hard work.

?We are better than they are. We work twice as hard,? Schehade said. ?We have to be better to survive.? Schehade said his café competes through better quality and service.

Representatives from Rainbow Books and Community Pharmacy corroborated that they survive by providing specialty goods and services that were impossible to find at mainstream stores. Additionally, these independent stores said they had a loyal group of clientele.

?We appeal to the individual, those that don?t want to follow the crowd,? Schehade explained.

While student opinions are guaranteed to be diverse on the subject, freshman Mary Mirshekari liked the current mix of nationally and locally owned stores.

?I like independent stores because not everyone has the same things and they?re less trendy,? Mirshekari said. ?But I like having some chains like Urban Outfitters and the GAP.?