By David Washburn, The San Diego Union-Tribune Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Mar. 31--Sports Palace owner Al Hammer couldn't believe his good fortune when a buddy first told him about the location.
Last September, a mere seven months before Opening Day at Petco Park, a friend of Hammer's called him about a 'for lease' sign on a storefront two blocks from the new ballpark's back entrance.
'I was shocked,' said Hammer, who put a deposit down on the place the next day.
For a guy in the sports memorabilia business, Hammer's spot near the corner of Eighth Avenue and J Street is the mother lode. Thousands will walk by his store before and after 81 Padres games. And he'll have what many of them want: hats, T-shirts and coffee cups with the new Padres logo.
'My sales will increase by a million percent,' Hammer said.
It is a story that small-business owners dream about. He finds the perfect spot after spending 20 years squeaking by with locations on Linda Vista Road, at the Handlery Hotel in Mission Valley and near the IKEA store off Friars Road near Qualcomm Stadium.
'If you tried to make a living selling Padres merchandise in the past, you'd be in trouble,' Hammer said. 'But now everybody is excited. New stadium, new logos, new everything.'
Hammer, however, is a relative rarity in the ballpark district. Although private projects valued at more than a half-billion dollars are either completed or under construction in the area, most of it is hotels or residential.
Not many other mom and pop entrepreneurs have set up shop in the four square blocks surrounding the stadium. Those that have include a new coffee shop, a bakery and a group of guys willing to try anything.
That there are but few new businesses is a good thing at least for the time being, said Carl Winston, director of the hospitality and tourism program at San Diego State University. The area won't be able to support much retail until many of the 4,000 planned residential units are built.
'The ballpark can be the icing on the cake, but can't be the cake itself,' Winston said. 'There are 285 days a year when nothing is going on.'
Most of the business owners agree with Winston, and say the influx of new residents over the next few years is the main reason for their high hopes.
Gloria Poore, who a few months ago opened Cafe Noir, a coffee shop on Ninth Avenue between Island Avenue and J Street, said she is targeting the neighborhood, not ballpark traffic.
She is actually worried that her artsy, two-story cafe may be overwhelmed on game days.
'I really don't know what to expect,' she said.
Susanna Starcevic, owner of Bread on Market, feels much in the same boat as Poore. Last year she opened a cafe/bakery in the shadow of Petco on Market between Seventh and Eighth avenues.
She gives the ballpark its due for creating an East Village renaissance and tells customers that they won't recognize Market Street in five years. Yet she's concerned about how the ballpark will affect her business.
'I don't know that the ballgames will help me,' she said. 'In fact, I'm worried about the parking and that most customers won't come down during the games.'
Tyler Adams has no such worries. In fact, as far as he and his partners in Gaslamp Trading Co. are concerned, parking problems are a plus. That means more people walking by their store at the corner of Sixth Avenue and J Street.
Their business plan has been fluid since they opened in December. Right now they are selling antique furniture from Portugal and Spain. During the holidays they sold fancy artificial Christmas trees. They plan to sell T-shirts when the ballpark opens.
But Adams, who cited the ballpark as the main reason he moved from Tucson, Ariz., to San Diego, said what they are doing is not as important as where they are.
'Whatever we do is going to work,' he said. 'Because 1,000 people will be walking by.'
Winston is dubious. He said there is 'billboard value' to having a location near the ballpark, but wonders how a business can survive on just 81 days.
'I don't know of people who buy antiques after a baseball game,' he said.
But people do buy replica jerseys after baseball games, which is why Hammer feels like he can't lose. He's already had a taste with the Padres recent open-house weekends and the Aztec Invitational, which was played at Petco earlier this month.
He said the business he did on those weekends was similar to the business he did in his previous locations when the Super Bowl was in town.
'I've been selling Padres merchandise for 20 years, and this is my big year,' he said. 'If you wait long enough, your dreams will come true.'
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(c) 2004, The San Diego Union-Tribune. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.
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