July 30, 2008 — Felipe Ayala said the time is long past to get the barkers off the streets of downtown Charlotte Amalie.
"We have an 18th century freeport town," he said. "That, in and of itself, will attract people. They will come because of our history."
Ayala, St. Thomas-St. John Historic Preservation Commission chairman, said he has observed the steady decline of the caliber of shopping as Main Street has continued its unrestrained growth.
"We have been promoting all the wrong things," Ayala said. "Everybody sells the same thing, and that is why the barkers started in the first place. The smaller shops can't afford to compete with the big ones, so they hire the promoters."
Diversification is one of the answers for changing Main Street, Ayala said. "We are not offering local products. We have to sell our town, our history, do some creative marketing. Everybody is caught up in personal gain, and not looking at the big picture," he said.
"We are the only town in the world that doesn't exploit its natural resources. Our resources are our most precious asset, and we constantly miss that opportunity."
The historic commission is not alone in the effort to clean up Charlotte Amalie. A public/private group initiated by Gov. John deJongh Jr., the Charlotte Amalie Revitalization Task Force, has been meeting since early this year, and its recommendations now sit on the governor's desk.
Along with the commission, the St. Thomas-St. John Chamber of Commerce and the St. Thomas Historical Trust, the group includes the departments of Public Works, Licensing and Consumer Affairs, and the Taxi Commission. The private sector is represented by a wide cross-section of businessmen and community leaders.
Most store owners were reluctant to speak on the record about the barkers. However, Odile de Lyrot , Cardow Jewelers vice president and director of merchandising, had no such hesitation.
"We don't have barkers," she said. "Because of our locations, we don't need them. I think it depends on the personality of the barker. Paulette, who advertises Herve restaurant on Government Hill, is polite and informative. But we will be better off without the barkers. If we could find some new form of information welcomers, that would be nice."
Other store owners were not that diplomatic. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a manager for one of the prestigious stores on Main Street, said, "I have this one barker outside right now, blocking traffic. People see him and they're in a bad mood and they're not happy. They are not a good representation of our town. The barkers are counterproductive. People do not like to be hassled."
Gladys Jones, owner of Gladys' Café in a Royal Dane Mall alley, said, "It's very hard for the barkers. They've worked for so many years and lots of them do a great job. I don't think the few bad apples should spoil it for the whole bunch."
Jones was forced to discontinue using barkers when she couldn't get other business owners in the alley to pitch in. After all, she doesn't really know how effective the barkers were, because she said she hasn't lost any business.
The removal of the barkers is the first step in cleaning up downtown, Ayala said. Next on the agenda is the plethora of signs he sees defacing Main Street. "It has gone too far," he said. "The commission has never once said 'you can't have a sign.' We ask that the signs comply with signage regulations."
The signs should obey established regulations in regard to width and height.
"Instead of making a sign two inches, they'll take four inches, trying to get an edge," Ayala said. "Commission regulations do not allow banners, unless by a civic organization for a specific event, yet we see them."
He said the FootNotes sign on Back Street in Bakery Square is "perfect." "It observes the size limitations, it's exactly right. We want to see consistency in signage."
The single thing that bothers him the most, Ayala said, "is our lack of an aesthetic sensibility. The fact that we have an abandoned car task force, and summer students picking up trash, only to find next day the roadside is trashed again," Ayala said. "Yet, we always talk about our 'beautiful' islands."
He said we need to market Charlotte Amalie like old San Juan does its historic neighborhood.
"We could start by a walking tour," Ayala said. "Look at our beautiful trees. People would come to see the royal poinciana trees, the yellow cedar. We could market them with simple little blurbs – 'come see our flamboyant trees, the loveliest in the Caribbean' – not 'come see a guy dressed in a Zulu warrior outfit.'"
Editor's Note: This is the second of a two-part article.
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