Experience-based downtown revitalization with Jaime Izurieta

This transcript has been lightly edited for readability and to correct obvious transcription errors while preserving the meaning of the original conversation.

Brandon Burton (00:00.876)
Hello, Chamber Champions! Welcome to Chamber Chat Podcast. I'm your host, Brandon Burton, and here on the show, I introduce you to people and ideas to better help you serve your chamber members and your community. Our guest for this episode is Jaime Izurieta. Jaime is an urban strategist, designer, and founder of Storefront Mastery, where he helps downtowns turn their ground floors into engines of foot traffic, business growth, and memorable experiences.

An architect and urban designer with more than 20 years of experience across the public and private sectors, Jaime works with cities, downtown associations, developers, and independent organizations across the U.S. He's also the author of Main Street Mavericks and a board member of Downtown New Jersey. His work explores a deceptively simple question: What makes people want to stop, walk in, and come back?

Jaime, I'm excited to have you with us today on Chamber Chat Podcast. I'd love to give you an opportunity to say hello to all the Chamber Champions who are listening. If you would, share something interesting about yourself so we can all get to know you a little better.

Jaime Izurieta (01:07.935)
Thank you so much, Brandon. I'm very grateful to be here. My name is Jaime Izurieta. I am originally from Ecuador, and I am a trained architect. My background includes many different spokes of the wheel. I've been involved in a local independent bookstore, had an architectural practice, and been an advisor to a mayor.

My family, who opened the bookstore, decided to send me to Argentina, where a world expert was giving a class on how to create bookstores. The class was not about design, as I was expecting. The class was about how you make people feel. That flicked a switch in my understanding of design and architecture. Since then, it has been all about how people feel in the places we create.

I've been focusing on downtowns—places that have a lot of local, independent businesses in close proximity. When these businesses are in proximity, an ecosystem can be built. The role of the designer comes in very handy for this. This is where I am now and what Storefront Mastery does. We serve downtown organizations in different capacities, helping businesses become better businesses, contribute more to the quality of downtown, and work with organizations to see what they can bring to the table so these downtowns look amazing.

Brandon Burton (02:49.356)
That is very helpful in understanding what Storefront Mastery is all about. I love that idea of asking what something makes you feel when you walk into a place and experience it. We're going to do a deep dive on experience-based downtown revitalization, using your background, knowledge, and experience, as soon as we get back from this quick break.

Jaime Izurieta (02:59.145)
Mm-hmm.

Brandon Burton (03:18.592)
Jaime, we're back. As I mentioned before the break, we're talking today about experience-based downtown revitalization. As you work with different communities and cities, I imagine you get involved with economic developers, cities, chambers, and others. What has your experience taught you about downtowns and how we can create an atmosphere that helps businesses thrive?

Jaime Izurieta (03:48.010)
The first thing we need to establish is what kind of downtown we have, because there are many different types. You have thriving downtowns where every storefront looks amazing, the buildings have been renovated, there is very little vacancy, and businesses are thriving.

The work is never done, so those downtowns still have next steps to consider. At the other end of the spectrum are downtowns with very little economic activity, many vacancies, a small footprint, and few anchors that can bring people in. We work with a wide range of downtowns.

The thing that keeps repeating is that there has to be an anchor. The anchor is not necessarily a business. The anchor can be an idea that brings people downtown. What is the single business surrounded by vacancy doing for the civic integrity of the town? How is this single, lone business building civic pride?

That applies all the way to the top. How are the top five businesses in an amazingly thriving downtown building civic pride and civic awareness throughout the city? This is the main thing.

Brandon Burton (05:17.400)
Mm.

Brandon Burton (05:29.590)
I'm in Texas, and many downtowns here are built around a courthouse. These courthouses might be 150 years old and may not necessarily be used as courthouses anymore. They might now be offices for city workers, but they are not the draw they used to be as the focal point of downtown.

You talked about having a couple of businesses that draw people in. What are some examples or experiences you've seen? It doesn't necessarily have to be a business that draws people in; it could be an experience. What ideas have you seen that have been effective?

Jaime Izurieta (06:20.103)
It varies from town to town. The solutions vary, but the problem is always the same. We have anchors that draw people, but people leave as soon as they arrive. Businesses can begin appearing next to or very close to these anchors and provide services that complement whatever the anchors provide.

If it's an office building, those office workers will need a great place to have lunch. If it's a courthouse, many different businesses can cater to the people who come there. There are many reasons people go to courthouses, from the happiest—getting married—to the not-so-happy. Businesses can appear around these places to serve the exact needs of the people who visit them.

That is when an ecosystem starts to be created. There is not just one thing to do; that one thing has smaller things around it that complement the package. Maybe it's a coffeehouse, a sandwich place, or even a doctor's office. That can create a bridge between the major anchor and the surrounding businesses.

When people walk from point A to point B within downtown, that generates foot traffic. Foot traffic invariably generates demand. Someone will think of a business, as humble, modest, and small as it may be, that would be the perfect fit for that walk between point A and point B. That's how the ecosystem forms. Eventually, it becomes a snowball.

Brandon Burton (08:11.436)
I've seen vacancies and vacant buildings in various downtowns. There can be many reasons for vacancies. It may be a landlord who doesn't want to update the building. Maybe they're asking too much for rent, they haven't found the right business, or the property is owned by someone who isn't part of the community and isn't engaged in making it relevant.

How do you work with and around vacancies to help revitalize downtown?

Jaime Izurieta (08:50.547)
The first thing is to look at why these vacancies are appearing. In many years of working with downtowns, I have not met a property owner who purchases property to lose money. Not one.

Brandon Burton (09:07.062)
Right.

Jaime Izurieta (09:16.499)
If we discard the myth that property is held vacant simply to lose money or cover other losses and expenses, that represents a very small percentage of the reasons vacancies appear.

Brandon Burton (09:19.404)
Yeah.

Jaime Izurieta (09:28.069)
The biggest reason vacancies appear is that there is not enough economic dynamism. The economy is not moving as fast as it should because demand is downstream from the local economy. If many people are cutting hair, doing nails, stamping documents, and handling other activities downtown, someone will come up with an idea and open a business there. Someone will do it.

Why don't they do it? Generally, because there are too many hoops to jump through, often because of regulations. That is the bottleneck and one of the main reasons people do not open businesses in places where there is opportunity.

Brandon Burton (10:21.132)
I agree. As you gave that response, I thought of Doug Griffiths' 13 Ways to Kill Your Community, where he talks about vacancies and what you can do. One idea is placing posters in vacant storefronts to show what the space could be. You mentioned getting a haircut, and I think that's an example he uses. Maybe you put a poster of a barbershop in the window so people downtown can visualize what the space could become.

I previously had Deb Brown on the podcast, and she talked about how, if you want a restaurant downtown, you could bring some chairs outside and start eating lunch there. Start giving the impression that this is the kind of place downtown needs.

Jaime Izurieta (11:09.329)
Exactly. Someone will react and do something. If we stop trying to solve the vacancies themselves and start asking why the economy is not moving enough, then, when we get the economy moving, the vacancies will solve themselves.

Brandon Burton (11:27.084)
Most of our audience consists of chamber leaders and chamber staff. What role can they have in filling vacancies or building the downtown ecosystem to create foot traffic and make people feel that this is where they want to be and something they want to be part of?

Jaime Izurieta (11:52.736)
I see chambers as bridges. This may be a bad analogy, but it works for my understanding. Chambers connect people. They connect businesses with what is happening in local government. Chambers are bridges, and that can define some of their work.

They can identify which members are best suited to talk with one another, explore possible collaborations, develop solutions, and implement those solutions downtown.

Bringing people together is an amazing way to get minds to collide and generate ideas. Ideas and innovation come about when people get together. On the other side, chambers can look at why economies that need help are not moving enough. Look at the regulations and ask why businesses are not being opened in this place.

When there is so much opportunity and a courthouse nearby, why isn't there a coffee shop? What rules or aspects of the business climate are failing to inspire—or actively preventing—businesses from opening?

That's another bridge chambers can build: the bridge between local government, regulations, frameworks, and everything happening at the city level and the businesses that are chamber members. Members can cross that bridge by opening businesses, creating new businesses, or finding new members who want to open businesses downtown. The idea is to build the ecosystem.

Brandon Burton (14:07.522)
I love those responses. Chambers should be at the heart of those things. I've also seen chambers with a tourism arm open a visitor center and gift shop downtown. That gives people a reason to come downtown and creates foot traffic. Chambers also host downtown events, whether it's an arts festival, Oktoberfest, or even wiener dog races. These activities bring people downtown.

When you talk about roadblocks that make it harder to do business downtown, parking comes to mind. Parking can be an issue, whether it's 30-minute parking or a limited number of spaces. To your earlier point, if there is a big enough draw, people are willing to park two or three blocks away and walk downtown. It's about creating the atmosphere that brings them in and builds foot traffic. What thoughts do you have about parking as an obstacle? I'm sure you've seen some creative solutions.

Jaime Izurieta (15:39.422)
I think a parking problem is the best problem to have. If there is not enough parking, it means many people are coming downtown. If downtown is congested and there is nowhere to park, it means everyone is downtown, and that is great.

I also think parking is a matter of perception. We conducted a study in one of the towns where I've worked. There were two days during the year—a festival and Mother's Day—when the town was completely full and thousands of people came downtown. On those two days, only 40 percent of the total parking capacity around town was used. On its busiest days, the town had 60 percent more parking than it needed.

I don't know whether that study would be replicated elsewhere. It was a unique study for a particular downtown, but it is an interesting conversation starter. Look at how much parking you have and how it works throughout the year. I think the conclusion will surprise most people.

For the past 80 or 90 years, we have created parking infrastructure that is severely overbuilt. We have knocked down entire buildings and city blocks just to provide parking. My friend Jeff Siegler says this is like tearing down the stage in a theater to add more seating. You're destroying the reason people come downtown while giving them a place to park when they arrive. Eventually, there is no reason to go downtown. You keep adding parking, but people stop coming because the attractions are gone.

If we look at parking from that perspective, recognize that it is a good problem to have, and understand that the issue is often perception, we can think differently. If we have a great downtown, an economy that moves, and places people are willing to drive 30, 40, or 50 minutes to visit, they will not mind parking two or three blocks away because the walk will be amazing. There will be people, great storefronts, trees, shade, and coffee shops.

Walking three blocks may take five or ten minutes, and that can be a very entertaining ten minutes. If downtown is entertaining enough, the walk alone will be a great experience. You will enjoy what you came to do and have another good experience walking back. The full visit will be a great time.

This is when we start talking about experience. Your downtown creates an experience whether you design it or not. If you don't design it, there is a good chance it will not be a great experience. If you design it, the chance of it being a good experience is much higher. We need to design for that.

We need to design experiences that make people comfortable parking one or two blocks away and walking to their destination. When people walk, great things happen. You create foot traffic, and the businesses and storefronts along those routes are exposed to more people. Their contribution is to make their storefronts amazing so people enjoy walking past, want to look inside, and hopefully enter and spend money.

Brandon Burton (20:08.908)
Every community should figure out what it wants to be known for. What is the draw for your community, and how can you incorporate that into downtown? It could be a statue or monument people want to see. I've seen downtowns with murals where everyone wants to take a picture with the city name displayed like a postcard. Other downtowns incorporate music throughout the walk, creating an experience similar to walking through a mall, with music and enjoyable scenery.

I'll give a shout-out to Bentonville, Arkansas. Its downtown is superb. It reminds me of Pleasantville. It is very well manicured and provides a great experience. I don't mind walking every block because it is so enjoyable.

Jaime Izurieta (21:12.677)
Exactly. Bentonville is unique and exceptional. Not every small downtown has a multibillion-dollar corporation. Not everyone has Walmart. A lot of credit goes to Walmart for preserving small things such as the original Walmart store, which serves as a historic museum, while also doing exceptional things such as the museum of art and the culinary academy. These attractions are out of scale for such a small town, but they put a huge spotlight on it. Then smaller things start happening.

It's the same process we discussed earlier. You have an anchor, and small things begin happening around it. These anchors are exceptionally great, but the things that happen around them are also amazing.

One thing we need to remember is that it doesn't matter how small or humble the one thing your town can be recognized for is. What matters is how you tell and sell that story.

We worked in Corsicana, Texas, a year or two ago. Part of the work involved looking at vacancies and vacant spaces downtown—not just storefronts—and identifying their best possible uses for attracting people.

As we researched stories to tell, we found that Corsicana is the first place where oil was discovered west of the Mississippi. Our project was called something like “The Birthplace of American Energy.” It was very cool because it could be built from small things. If you had a thriving oil industry 100 years ago, what might you still have lying around? Pieces of oil rigs.

What happens if you recruit retired oil-rig workers, obtain salvaged oil-rig parts, and create parks with them? You have people who know how to weld, break, and work metal, and you have scrap metal. You can create amazing things with that. That can be enough to make the place known throughout the state, region, or country. It is unique. What matters is the creativity and how distinctive you can make the place.

Brandon Burton (24:00.195)
It's about how you tell the story. If your town is the best-kept secret because you're not telling its story, you're failing. You have to get your story out there and draw people in.

Jaime Izurieta (24:09.927)
Exactly. Being the best-kept secret doesn't work. The story needs to be out there. It needs to go viral.

Brandon Burton (24:17.132)
Before we start wrapping up, what else should a chamber or community be thinking about when it comes to revitalizing downtown, restoring economic health, and bringing foot traffic back?

Jaime Izurieta (24:37.311)
The first and most important thing is to get business owners talking among themselves. The idea is basic. Maybe once a month, if you're a chamber, you convene your members and say, “Let's have breakfast at a downtown business.” If two people come or 100 people come, it's all good.

You need members sitting around a table and discussing things. Prompt them to discuss their ideas, visions, and dreams for the place where they operate. When ideas collide, innovation appears. The chamber's role in convening people, getting them around the table, and encouraging them to talk about ideas and visions is probably the biggest catalyst for redevelopment and revitalization.

If the economy starts moving, demand for many things will emerge. Demand for storefronts will increase. Demand for buildings to renovate will increase. Demand for people to come and live nearby will increase. Getting the economy moving is what needs to be done first. Everything else is downstream from that.

Brandon Burton (26:07.970)
On behalf of listeners who want to take their organization and community to the next level, what tip or action item would you leave with them?

Jaime Izurieta (26:23.443)
It would be the same thing. Create something as humble as “Morning Orange Juice with the Corsicana Chamber.” People arrive at a downtown location, sit around a table, have a glass of orange juice, and discuss ideas.

You have to prompt the conversation. If you simply sit people around a table, they might talk about whatever was on social media yesterday or whatever is in the current news cycle. We need to talk about ideas. We need to talk about advancing businesses and the dreams, visions, innovations, and abilities people have.

What does someone who owns a gift shop know how to do? Maybe that person is a huge model-train aficionado and can start a model-train club around town. That club could become a catalyst for many other things. We don't know what the catalyst will be. What we do know is that, when there is a catalyst, it starts moving things when we bring people together.

If there is one tip I can leave, it is to create an opportunity for members to meet periodically. Maybe you create Innovation Thursday on the first Thursday of every month. If someone cannot make it this month, they can attend the next one. Slowly, you start bringing people together and allowing minds to collide.

Brandon Burton (28:12.864)
I like that idea a lot. Innovation Thursdays—everyone should adopt that. How do you see the future of chambers of commerce and their purpose going forward?

Jaime Izurieta (28:28.819)
The world is changing very quickly. We are seeing tools that have never before been available to business owners. It is one of the easiest times in history to start and operate a business with perhaps $200 in costs. You can create virtual employees and tell artificial intelligence agents to create and schedule social media posts, emails, and meetings. It is a great time to create a business.

I think that's where the future leads. Education is critical. If we look at users of new technologies, only a tiny percentage of people are using artificial intelligence. An even smaller percentage pays for full AI models, and an almost imperceptible fraction is building systems, businesses, and something sustainable that can leave a legacy.

We need to educate ourselves about the possibilities of these technologies and also their threats, because no new technology comes without threats. Before automobiles, people were not being killed or injured by cars. As cars appeared, speeds increased, roads made travel easier, and accidents happened more often. There are guardrails and other concerns we need to understand.

The technology itself is amazing. We need to use it and take advantage of it. In my view, the future is education. Learn as much as possible about how these technologies work, spread that knowledge, and teach people that these technologies can be used for good. They are tools, and their effect depends on how we use them.

Brandon Burton (30:58.510)
Many chambers listening will have members who specialize in AI, security, or technology. Lean on these members and learn from them. Have them speak at your luncheon, incorporate what they're teaching, and apply it within your organization. Your members will then see you as a leader they can turn to for guidance about the future and how their businesses can be successful. I love that tip. Thank you for sharing it.

Before I let you go, I want to give you an opportunity to share contact information for listeners who want to connect with you and learn more about what Storefront Mastery offers. Where would you point them?

Jaime Izurieta (31:54.187)
First, I would point them to our website, storefrontmastery.com, and then to my LinkedIn page, Jaime Izurieta. If you search for Storefront Mastery on LinkedIn, you'll find the company page and me there.

I'll be very happy to connect and chat. My presence on LinkedIn is a little spotty, but I love having conversations there. I've brought some of those conversations into real life, and it has been great. I've made good friends and completed interesting projects through those connections. So, visit my website, storefrontmastery.com.

Brandon Burton (32:36.406)
That's perfect. We'll include that in our show notes to make it easy to find. Jaime, it has been great having you on the show. I appreciate you spending time with us and sharing your experience and knowledge. I hope listeners can find some good ideas to take back to their communities and apply so they can help their downtowns thrive and take off as they should. Thank you, Jaime.

Jaime Izurieta (33:00.816)
Thank you so much. I'm very grateful, Brandon, and hello to all the Chamber Champions.