Some of these ideas for improving Shaker Square are almost without cost, others are "big ticket" items. All but one have been previously mentioned on these pages. So here they are, in no particular order.

Early Bird Dinners

Our Senior Wednesdays on the Square program got us to thinking that thousands of persons over 65 live around the Square. Yet we know of no restaurant on the Square that offers an incentive for older residents (or anyone, for that matter) to come to dinner earlier. It could be a different menu or a lower price. But simple practices such as including salad or dessert with meals ordered before a certain time could increase business, with the early diners leaving before the after-work crowd showed up.

Promotion

We've never understood why almost all the Square's promotions are large crowd events that bring families, many with young children, to the Square - often at times when our restaurants are busy, parking is hard to find, and the stores are closed.

Why not:

• Ads and promotions geared to holidays such as Fathers Day and Mothers Day?

• Shaker Square gift certificates?

• Radio, television and internet ads for the Square?
  (Have you ever heard or seen one? I haven't.)

• A weekly Saturday promotion, each week for a different quadrant of the Square? There would be a promotion every week. Why by quadrant? So  greater traffic at one store might lead to more business at its neighbors.

(postscript: In November 2009 The Coral Company announced that there would be no holiday tree-lighting.)

All Coral Company's Meters Should Give Free Short Term Parking

Early in 2007 the Coral Company helped businesses on the Square when it changed its 60 meters around the Square to give free short-term parking. But their parking meters behind the northwest quadrant stores (Grotto, Subway, US Bank, etc) did not change. Let's do the whole job and make them free for short-term parkers too!

Cleveland's Parking Meters Should Give Free Short Term Parking

Cleveland's parking meters along Shaker Boulevard east and west-bound do not give free short term parking. We've learned that no city meters do that and the city code would need to change. That, it seems to us, would benefit all of Cleveland's stores and restaurants: from the Square to downtown and west to Kamm's Corners.

In February 2007 we asked Kenneth Johnson, our Ward 4 city councilman, about this improvement. We asked again in September 2007 at SHAD's annual meeting and he said he was working on it. But to our surprise he did not mention that he would have to introduce legislation in City Council. We're waiting Mr Johnson ... but not patiently.

A "Hot Line" Phone Number for the Square

Yes, we all know to call 911 when we see something that needs immediate police, fire or EMS response. But what do we do if we see something on the Square that we think is messy, wrong, dangerous or broken? Many of us who see the Square as "our space" would be glad to take out our mobile phones and call a number -- but we don't know what number to call.

Each quadrant now has a directory of stores and restaurants. How about adding a Coral Company "hot line" number to these new directories?

The phone number for Shaker Square Security is (216) 403-4924. (Not a secret, it is displayed on their patrol cars.)

A Visitor Center for the Square

The University Circle area plans to add nearly 1,000 units of housing over the next several years. To help support that, they have just opened a Visitor and Living in the Circle Center on Euclid Avenue near Mayfield Road. Would such a place be great for the Square? Have a look at their Center, then read our Community Spaces page.

More Parking

On our Tale of Two Cities page we point out how Shaker Heights helps local businesses with free short-term parking and small parking lots, and Cleveland does not. How about it Cleveland? The payback: collecting more long-term revenues from sales, property and payroll taxes. Or, said less positively: avoiding long-term declines in tax collections.

Community Space

Outdoor concert space is fine, but to build community we need indoors, day and evening, year-round space too. To learn more, please see our page About Public Spaces and Community.

Let Merchants Do Their Own Promotion

As we understand it, businesses on the Square pay a monthly amount for promotion to the Coral Company (CC), which spends their money. Change that practice. Let each business spend on joint ads and promotions with others on the Square and deduct those expenses against up to one-third of their promotional fee. Example: if a merchant pays $3,600 annually for Coral Company's promotional expense, let him or her spend up to $1,200 a year on cooperative print, radio or TV ads and deduct that from the $3,600.

When I started this website in 2003, "managers" of the stores on the Square owned by large national corporations had to have any web content approved by a regional executive. Today, I'm glad to say that nearly all are "locals": tough, smart, creative business owners.

Let them look among themselves for partners in marketing and promotion, and not look to their landlord - a real estate development company - to lead them. Marketing alliances might develop among similar businesses like the restaurants, others might be among neighbors, or theme-based or broad-based. Promotional spending would not decline. What isn't spent by the business owners would be spent by the Coral Company.

If that works well, then increase the amount the businesses can control, so that after a few years the CC is responsible nothing in the way of promotion.

We think this more participatory, less paternalistic approach to marketing the Square will get better results than what we've seen in recent years. And when the Coral Company sells the Square for a handsome gain and leaves, the businesses on the Square will be able to run the Square's promotions themselves, like a real Merchants Association.

A branch library at the Square  (new)

When this page was pasted it had only nine suggestions and we invited visitors to submit a tenth. Here it is.

Have a branch of the Shaker Heights Library at the Square. Why Shaker and not Cleveland? First, the Cleveland Public Library has just opened a new branch at Shaker Boulevard and East 116th Street. more... Second: we pay taxes to the Shaker Heights City Schools, which includes support of the Shaker Heights Library. It need not, at first, be a big commitment. Even a place to enter book and film requests and to return loaned items would be a help, and they could be in a cooperating business or, even better, in our hoped for indoors community space. Learn more.

See you on the Square.

Arnie

August 8, 2009   updated March 18, 2010