Downtown Cooperstown Economy 1979-2003

Economic Activity in Downtown Cooperstown, 1979-2003

General Report

August 4, 2003

Alexander R. Thomas, Ph.D.

Project Director

Justin Thalheimer

Matthew Cook

Phillip Malfitani

Research Assistants

CSSR

Center for Social Science Research

http://www.oneonta.edu/academics/ssr/

State University of New York

College at Oneonta

c/o Sociology Department

418 Fitzelle Hall

Oneonta, N. Y. 13820

INTRODUCTION

A perusal of opinion from the residents of the Greater Cooperstown area reveals a common opinion about the area’s economy: it has changed dramatically in a relatively short time. Since 1970, the village’s economy has mirrored national trends of becoming more reliant on service industries. The most obvious of these is the area’s considerable tourism industry, but financial services and health care have also made great strides since 1980. Nevertheless, many people both within and outside of the village think of Cooperstown as being primarily a “tourist town,” most likely because of the industry’s dominance in Cooperstown’s central business district.

The purpose of this research is to examine the impact of tourism on the central business district of Cooperstown and the Railroad Avenue area nearby. Data on retail activity was collected with the cooperation of the Village of Cooperstown and the Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce.

METHOD

The focus of this study was on the changeover in the retail landscape since the 1970s specifically for downtown Cooperstown. The study does not cover the area as a whole. For a study of economic change in the entire area since 1997, one should consult the Retail in Greater Cooperstown (Thomas & Cardona, 2002). The current study differs in that the focus is on the change in downtown Cooperstown since the 1970s. Although the original goal of the study team was to collect data on storefront occupants since 1970, the data gets particularly unreliable prior to 1979 and as such was rejected. The study therefore examines the changes since 1979. In addition, at the request of the Village of Cooperstown, the Railroad Avenue shopping area (hereafter referred to as the Railroad District), was added to the study as well.

For the purposes of this study, the downtown area was defined as the commercial area of Main Street extending from near the Otsego County Office Complex to the corner with Fair Street. Small areas of commercial activity extending approximately half a block from each side of Main Street along Chestnut and Pioneer Streets, Hoffman and Stagecoach Lanes, and the Doubleday Field area were also included. The Railroad District was defined as Railroad Avenue and the contiguous commercial area along upper Main Street.

Data was collected on the number of tourists each year since 1970 and the number and type of businesses downtown during this same time period.

Collection of tourism data is incomplete as no reliable studies have been completed on the topic in Cooperstown. A reliable if imperfect indicator, however, is the attendance figures from each of the three museums: the Baseball Hall of Fame, the Farmer’s Museum, and the Fenimore Art Museum. The three museums were all well established prior to 1970 and the subsequent study period. Another museum, the Carriage House Museum, closed during the study period. A fifth attraction, the Glimmerglass Opera Company, was started later and was still growing during much of the study period; the Company also built a new Opera House ten miles north of Cooperstown during the 1980s. Opera attendance was therefore rejected as an indicator of annual visitors.

Each of the selected museums has a different orientation and target audience. Fenimore Art Museum is reputed to have the largest collection of American Folk Art in the world. The Farmer’s Museum is an historic reconstruction of a small farming hamlet with demonstrations and exhibits. The Baseball Hall of Fame is a sports shrine and history museum dedicated to that game. As will be discussed, the demand for specialty (non-baseball) goods is driven by the overall number of tourists whereas almost exclusively the Hall of Fame drives the baseball goods market.

The second source of data was more complex. A list of addresses in the downtown area was assembled. For each year at four-year intervals beginning in 1979 the businesses located at each address were recorded. Data was collected with the help of lists supplied by the Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce and permit applications supplied by the Village of Cooperstown. Each business recorded was then coded according to the scheme outlined below. For earlier years, interviews with local residents and members of the business community were interviewed and their answers compared and recorded. Businesses were coded into one of six categories: 1) General; 2) General-swing; 3) General-fuel; 4) Specialty, non-baseball; 5) Specialty, baseball; and 6) Food service.

Businesses classified as “general” sell goods that are of use to the general population on a regular basis. This definition is inclusive of grocery, pharmaceutical supply, and other such general merchandise. Such businesses often sell items related to tourism, but the primary purpose of such stores is the sale of general merchandise. In those cases where a significant portion of the store is given over to the sale of tourism related goods, it is designated as “General-Swing.” General merchandise businesses normally rely on tourism to sustain revenues; for example, a grocery store often sells food and supplies for picnicking, camping, and other similar activities, but the primary purpose of the store is the provision of groceries. In contrast, a “general-swing” business sells general merchandise as well as a significant number of souvenirs and other tourism related merchandise. General stores that supply automotive fuel are designated “General-Fuel.” This category does not include businesses that sell fuel as the primary source of revenue (Thomas, 2003, 163-4).

Specialty stores sell goods that are intended for aesthetic or symbolic use, such as works of art or souvenirs. Boutiques that sell clothes in addition to a number of other specialty items were classified as specialty stores, although the store selling only clothes is classified “general.” Businesses which do not have as a primary orientation baseball related merchandise were classified “specialty, non-baseball.” A “Specialty, baseball” designation is applied to those stores that do have a primary orientation toward baseball related items (Thomas, 2003, 164).

Food Service establishments include businesses whose primary purpose is the preparation and service of food for consumption (Thomas, 2003, 164).

Services include businesses whose primary purpose is to provide a specific service, such as financial services, real estate, or minor production services such as printing, photocopying, or customer service.

A sixth category – art galleries – was also coded.

In addition, business names were coded for reference to baseball or the baseball creation myth. For instance, Baseball Nostalgia and Extra Innings are obvious references to the game, whereas Doubleday Dip and Where It All Began are allusions to the Doubleday creation mythology. In addition, allusions to baseball products (e.g., Pioneer Sports Cards) were also coded for a reference to baseball.

Businesses were also coded for whether or not they advertised in the Chamber of Commerce guide for 1979 through 1999. This is an indicator not only of Chamber of Commerce involvement but for community involvement in general.

FINDINGS

Attendance at the three museums is shown in figure 1.

Figure 1: Museum Attendance, 1970-2002

The relationship among the three museums was investigated utilizing attendance data supplied from the three museums and statistically analyzed. The results are shown in figure 2.

Figure 2: Correlation Matrix for Museum Attendance

		Fenimore Art Museum Attend.	Farmer's Museum Attendance	Baseball Hall of Fame Attendance
Fenimore Art Museum
Pearson Corr.	1.000
Attendance
Sig. (2-tailed)	.

N	32
Farmer's Museum
Pearson Corr.	.866**	1.000
Attendance
Sig. (2-tailed)	.000	.

N	32	33
Baseball Hall of
Pearson Corr.	-.171	-.413*	1.000
Fame Attendance
Sig. (2-tailed)	.348	.017	.

N	32	33	33

** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

* Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

Attendance at the two museums of the New York State Historical Association, the Fenimore Art Museum and the Farmer’s Museum, are highly correlated (R=.866; p<.01) reflecting both a similar visitor base and their proximity to one another. Attendance at the Farmer’s Museum is negatively correlated with attendance at the Baseball Hall of

Fame (R=-.413; p<.05). This data suggests that attendance at the Baseball Hall of Fame and the Farmer’s Museum has been working against each other throughout much of the time period under study, calling into question the assumption that increasing numbers of tourists help all attractions and businesses.

Interview data collected from tourists and business owners since 1997 sheds light on this phenomenon. A large proportion of visitors to Cooperstown appear to be “day trippers” who visit for a portion of a day and “weekenders” who stay for one or two nights. In addition, a very large proportion appear to be families. In the past, it seems likely that visitors would attend the Farmer’s Museum and a portion of those would also attend the Fenimore Art Museum. This accounts for the positive correlation between attendance figures at these two museums. As visitors became more likely to visit the Baseball Hall of Fame instead, they often either ran out of time or money to visit the other museums. This trend has been mitigated somewhat since 1995 as the Cooperstown

Figure 3: Economic Types in Cooperstown Central Business District, 1979-2003

1979

1983

1987

1991

1995

1999

2003

JJ Newberry's General Store

Cooperstown General Store

Greene Law

Blands Sporting Goods

Jim's Hunting & Fishing

Boutique

Extra Innings Sports Cards

F.R. Woods Hotel & Gifts

Peevers Real Estate

Wilbur National Bank

Beeffee's Grill Restaurant

Black Bart's Restaurant

Sears Catalog Store

Leatherstocking Travel

Don Olin Realty

Soccer Hall of Fame Store

Sheffield Liquor Store

Village Wine and Spirtis

Cooperstown Sports & News

Mickey's Restaurant

Beehive Restaurant

A Cooperstown Christmas

Augurs Corner Book Store

McGown Hardware

Mickey's Place

Church & Scott Drug Store

America's Game

Ellsworth and Sills Clothing

Ellsworth and Sills Clothing & Pro Image Photo

Ellsworth and Sills Clothing - Walker Gallery

Ellsworth and Sills Clothing

Smartshop

Walker Gallery

Walker - National Pastime Gallery

National Pastime

McEwan Hardware

Third Base

Lofty Spirits Food and Specialty Shop

Village Squire

Brass Rail Rest.

Where It All Began Bat Company

Clarks Men Shop

National Pastime

Riverwood Leather Goods

The Cupboard Gifts

Pete Rose Collectibles

Witheys Drug Store

Danny's Market

The Market Place

Glimmerglass Restaurant

An Li Restaurant

Italy Restaurant

Cafe Nicoletta

Bankers Trust Company

First American Bank

Key Bank

American Baseball Experience

Brooks Pharmacy

National Commerical Bank & Trust

Keybank

Village Brokerage

Pioneer Sports Cards

Harris Jewelers

Craft Boutique

Moon Dreams

Cooperstown Hat Company

The Cooperstown Clubhouse

Heritage Hair Salon

Gallery 53

Cooperstown Bat Company

Sal's Pizza

Captain Al's seafood

Colonial Florist

Tin Bin Alley

Abner's Ice Cream

Doubleday Dip

The First Addition

TJ's Place

Cooperstown Color Center

Cooperstown Decorating Center

Cooperstown Baseball Company

Cooperstown Kid Company

Around The House Gifts

Legends are Forever

Farm and Home Bargain Center

Stables Mini-Mall

Cooperstown Diner

Bates Real Estate

Country Properties

Et cetera

Moon Dreams

The Ledges Antiques

Homescapes

Collector's World

Don Olin Real Estate

Metro Fashion

The Hitching Post Restaurant

Glimmerglass opera Guild Gift Sho

Homescapes

The Design Studio

Hubbell's Real Estate

Schneiders Bakery

Sherrys famous Restaurant

Gabriella's Restaurant

Cafe Milano

Village Peddler

Country Boy Realty

Box Office Video

Western Auto