Despite a recession in the corporate and service sectors, retailers across the nation and Downtown are reporting brisk business as they head into the crucial holiday season.
"I hate to test the fates by saying anything, but we really haven't had a problem," said Patty Maloney, owner of the Card Center on Wood Street. "With our kind of business, we've seen a little hiccup because a lot of people have felt a need to get back in touch with others."
Downtown merchants said consumers seem to be responding to calls to live life normally and continue spending in a broad recession brought on by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The trend follows broader indicators, as national retailers announced higher-than-expected October sales earlier this month.
At Gateway Center last night, a foot of pavement to stand on was scarce as thousands flocked to a massive stage set up for Light Up Night festivities.
Usually serene after business hours, Downtown streets became a sea of people, as if promoters hired a Pied Piper to lure them there.
"We came out of the subway and said, 'Where do we go from here?'" said Sue Boyer, 47, of Ingram, sitting outside Fifth Avenue Place moments after the sky went ablaze from fireworks.
In what could be a walking department store ad, shoppers carrying bags marked Kaufmann's, Lazarus and Banana Republic lined the sidewalks in a scene that looked like a shopping mall on its busiest day.
From Fort Duquesne Boulevard to the Boulevard of the Allies, Downtown was aglow - mostly from the repetitious blinking of brake lights as cars snaked slowly to their free parking spots.
The free evening and weekend parking for customers through the end of the year was seen as an early holiday gift to merchants.
"I'd say more than half the people who come in here complain about how expensive parking is," said Bonnie Klein, owner of the Camera Repair Shop in Market Square. "If you want people to come Downtown and do some comparison shopping with the malls, free parking is imperative."
The Pittsburgh Parking Authority, at the request of Mayor Tom Murphy, agreed on Thursday to offer free evening and weekend parking for the next six weeks at its eight garages and two surface lots Downtown. It was a political about-face for the Murphy administration, which opposed a similar proposal by Councilman Jim Ferlo last year.
Ferlo's proposal came in the waning days of battle over Marketplace at Fifth & Forbes, Murphy's plan to redevelop Downtown by taking up to 62 Downtown buildings through eminent domain and displacing the mom and pop merchants who make up most of Downtown's retail sector.
Harry Finnigan, executive director of the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership, echoed Klein by calling the free parking policy "imperative."
"Some of these retailers are getting as much as 30 or 40 percent of their business during the holiday season," Finnigan said. "In light of what happened in September, this holiday season becomes that much more critical."
Jack Mullen, senior vice president of sales promotions for Kaufmann's, said the measure will make its "healthy Downtown store" healthier.
"We're thrilled with efforts by the mayor's office to increase shopper traffic Downtown," he said.
Staff writer Erik Siemers contributed to this report.
