Owner plans to close Salina, Kan., greeting card shop.

Byline: Darrin Stineman

Dec. 7--And then there was one.

Carroll's Hallmark Shop, a fixture in downtown Salina for 40 years, will be closed at the end of the year at 200 S. Santa Fe.

Owner Chuck Carroll said Tuesday he will consolidate his shops -- which specialize in greeting cards and collectables -- at his Central Mall location. That leaves Carroll, who had owned several businesses in Salina and other Kansas towns, with one retail outlet.

The drawback started in 2002, when it was announced that downtown's Carroll's Books and Video would close because of a slowing retail market. The same year, Carroll's stores closed in Emporia and Great Bend.

In December 2004, the family sold Carroll's Web, a downtown-based Internet service provider.

Carroll cited the "business retail climate the last several years" as a factor in the decision to close the Hallmark shop, adding that he didn't believe larger retail stores are a good fit in today's downtown.

"At one time, we had three Hallmark stores and a large department store in downtown," said Carroll, who owns the downtown Hallmark shop with his wife, Liz, the store manager. "The downtown is changing. The larger stores probably won't work downtown anymore, but the smaller stores work real well."

The past few years, downtown has become more of a specialty store destination, said Gayle Martin, executive director of Salina Downtown Inc. That shift is consistent with a market-based downtown plan from Progressive Urban Management Associates that the city of Salina implemented in 2002, she said.

"The growth that we see is in specialty shops and niche products," Martin said. "Most retailers are looking for 2,500 square feet or less, which is a very different floor plan than what people would describe as a department store."

The idea of the less-is-more philosophy is to offer something nobody else has, Martin said.

"The products they offer are oftentimes products you will not see at the national retailers," she said. "And also, customer service is a factor. Busy professionals like to develop a relationship with a retailer where they can call them and they know they have a quality product and they can assist them with a gift item as far as wrapping it and shipping it."

The decision to do something with Carroll's Hallmark has been in the works for about a year, Carroll said, and it came down to either closing and consolidating with the Central Mall store or downsizing the downtown store.

"If I downsized, I would have to downsize to a 2,000-square-foot store, and I've already got a 2,400-square-foot store at Central Mall," Carroll said. "Even with the trade area we have, it looks to me like we can't support two (Hallmark) stores."

Anderson's Leather Shop, 118 N. Santa Fe, is one downtown store that seems to be bucking the downsizing trend. The 9,000-squre-foot store has grown from three departments to nine since it opened almost 57 years ago.

"Our day after Thanksgiving was 35 percent more than it was a year ago," shop owner Andy Anderson said on Tuesday. "I think there's other (larger) businesses that can work downtown in good shape -- if we don't get too many more bars."

Anderson has been at the forefront of an effort to curb the number of downtown bars because of crime and nuisance problems associated with them.

Carroll said he already has received several inquiries about leasing the space, which is in a prime location at the corner of South Santa Fe and Walnut streets. Two of downtown's biggest draws -- Martinelli's Little Italy restaurant and the Stiefel Theatre for the Performing Arts -- are at the same intersection.

Carroll owns 100 feet of the building on the south side of Walnut and the part of the building on the north side that includes Martinelli's and Sign Pro.

"We are obviously sad to see a longtime retail store go, but at the same time, Chuck is a major property owner in downtown and will continue to be," Martin said. "Chuck and Liz have done a good job with recruiting a variety of tenants that can add a mix to downtown.

That family has been a positive force for downtown. I see that being continued, just in a different role."

Carroll said he will enjoy continuing to have a presence there.

"Downtown is a fun place to do business," he said.

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Copyright (c) 2005, The Salina Journal, Kan.

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