As Salt Lake City changes, location and timing can make or break a business

You’ve probably seen them: locations that seem like they should be a great spot for a business. But without fail, businesses come and go at what seems like record speed.

Are some locations simply cursed? It’s a question worth pondering, as new business applications in Utah rose 12% in November according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

As it turns out, the space around a storefront can work against it.

A business’s location within an urban environment plays a key role in its success, said Divya Chandrasekhar, associate professor and chair of the Department of City and Metropolitan Planning at the University of Utah.

“We think of small businesses as being purely economic entities. If they have customers and if they have suppliers near them, they will all thrive,” she said. “But that’s not necessarily true.”

It comes down to how the surrounding environment is built and experienced.

“Is it pedestrian-friendly? Can this be walkable? Can you actually see the business on the sidewalk? Can people access it easily? Is this a building that meets the needs of the customers and the market that’s around it?” Chandrasekhar said.

Commercial clustering is another success factor for a business.

Alessandro Rigolon, who teaches urban planning alongside Chandrasekhar at the University of Utah, said having nearby stores that share a similar market helps to keep foot traffic moving from one to the next.

“People can go to a location, run multiple errands or walk around, and then maybe grab a coffee and then go shopping for clothes,” Rigolon said. “Generally speaking, the businesses that struggle a bit more are those that are kind of not in a cluster.”

He said this design is what makes areas like 9th and 9th and downtown Sugarhouse in Salt Lake City more conducive to business.

However other environmental factors can make or break a small business. That’s a lesson Brandon Anderson, owner of the former 9th and 9th Book and Music Gallery, learned through experience.

Anderson decided to locate his business there several years ago after a visit to 9th and 9th Jewelers. He saw the back half of the building was going unused, which was the perfect chance to open his storefront.

“With a brick-and-mortar, you can’t overstate [location’s] importance,” he said.

The Tower Theater next door created what Anderson called “automatic built-in foot traffic,” but the theater had closed during the pandemic and never re-opened. So, he moved to a space a block east and hoped it would make the shop easier to spot.

“A shop front on 9th and 9th, that’s baller as hell, right?” Anderson said. “You would just think, if you’ve ever walked around that place, or you talk to anybody, or you know some of those businesses that are so established.”

Just as Anderson opened his new location in February 2023, construction on 900 S. began. This completely killed business, he said, which led him to close the store earlier this year.

“Location’s importance becomes nothing if your timing is wrong,” Anderson said.

Local businesses around the city have also felt the effects of ongoing construction. Anderson said excavators and dump trucks blocked parking at his shop and street lighting was turned off. Both Chandrasekhar and Rigolon said store visibility and parking options are vital to keeping a business running.

Chandrasekhar said urban planners have the responsibility to work alongside business owners to create spaces where the local economy can thrive.

“When we’re planning out these small commercial spaces within neighborhoods, it sort of behooves us to really think about what’s going to happen in that spot,” she said. “Streetscapes and densities, how we design these intersections to be more of a destination.”