Your thoughts about downtown Campbell businesses?

Now, for everyone who doesn't go into downtown Campbell to visit the stores or to walk around on a regular basis, what keeps you from wandering down there? Is it because you don't like what's down there, you don't have time to go anywhere, you just don't think about going down there, or something else?

I've been talking to the downtown merchants lately and they're working hard to make the downtown strip more attractive to the local residents. The economy has hit them especially hard and they're very much interested in doing new things to make downtown a favorite destination point for local residents again. Do you have any ideas for how they could appeal more to the San Tomas Area Neighborhood?

One of these efforts is the Sundown Cinema movie series, which has been an outdoor Friday showing of a classic film. Past movies were Casa Blanca, The Birds, Sabrina, Rebel without a Cause, and Wizard of Oz. This week, they're doing West Side Story.

It's nothing personal. We live in an area with many alternatives.

When we do visit downtown Campbell it is for a few of our favorite restaurants. But even with those, there is plenty of competition elsewhere. We're not into drinking or nick-nack shops and outside of festivals it isn't a very family-fun sort of place, so our visits are infrequent...

Now if you'd turned the brewing place into a kids place like Bamboolas........

Here's my take on this....
The reason Downtown Campbell is not a draw, is there is nothing there to draw in people, and no direction on what it wants to be.
Sure there are some good restaurants, but other than the brewery, none are destinations. Some of the restaurants that serve breakfast do good business, such as Stacks, and Allies on Sunday. The other restaurants serve a small local cliental. People won't go far to patronize the other restaurants. After you eat dinner, what is there to do? Look at the Pruneyard less than a mile away. There is a bookstore, theatre, coffee shop, all within a convenient walking distance from the restaurants. Sure there is a theatre downtown and has many different performances during the week. But the city has done whatever it could to discourage hanging around before or after the shows. There are no nightclubs to create excitement, and the residential area is too close to allow live music. The shops that are there are an eclectic group of stores, but there is no central theme. Clothing, crafts, gifts, art?
There are times when there are many people downtown, Sunday for farmer's market and for the Thursday summer concerts. What are the merchants doing to attract people to their stores for those occasions? Do the restaurants offer box dinners for the patrons of the concerts or entice them for an after concert meal? Are the art galleries open after the concerts? Do the shops market to the people at the concert or the farmers market? It seems to me the merchants treat these occasions as an inconvenience rather than an opportunity.
Campbell has some very unique art galleries. There are many potential customers at the brewery, but the brewery is on one end of the downtown, and the art galleries on the other. What's in the middle is nothing that would encourage a leisurely after dinner walk. The shops either are closed, or appeal to such a small niche that they won't attract the mainstream. The Odd Fellows Lodge property can be scary to walk by at night.
There are several businesses that would attract a fair amount of traffic and buzz, a big bookstore, a boutique grocery store, (i.e Traders Joes) a live music nightclub to name a few. But I am afraid the city would say that those are not compatible with the surrounding area. When the city was approached about an internet gaming establishment, the city was very skeptical, and allowed the permit, with reduced hours. This would have been a destination for young people and young adults and brought traffic to the downtown at night. Thus my comment that the city doesn't know what it wants to be. What is the direction the downtown wants to go? What market are they aiming, and how do they attract that market. If they want quiet hair and nail salons whose customers will buy a coffee drink, then that's what they should aim for. If they want to be dining destination then we need to encourage more and larger restaurants. .
That's my opinion anyway!

actually, there is a night club: the Cardiff Lounge isn't a bad little spot to hang out and kinda reminds me and my friends of our favorite spots in SF...but I have to agree with the previous poster: the Campbell downtown area doesn't know what it wants to be: the area has no unified direction and no identity.

Of course Downtown Campbell has an identity. Every downtown does.

Downtown Campbell is a historic downtown. It is a somewhat secluded, quaint oasis in the bedroom city of Campbell "the orchard city". It has a historical perspective, but little renown. Downtown is access limited, mostly by design, which reduces traffic.

It is removed from freeway access and far from any college environs. I would say the businesses have done pretty well over the years ... considering the location. I don't consider it as a hub or center of any kind.

Granted, the city always seems to be trying to fix the downtown identity and image with redirection and redevelopment. Often confusing in its implementation. I believe it is this ever changing direction that has made downtown the oasis it is today.

I looked up the Vasona Light Rail Project. The rail stop at Downtown Campbell may help some, but with limited/no parking it won't often be a starting or final destination point. But as a stop point it may see some increase in visitors. Maybe...

I really like the downtown Campbell area. My issue is that I only get down there in the evenings and by then everything is closed. They all seems to close up shop by 5 or so. Too bad as there are quite a few shops that I would frequent were they open later. Just my two cents.