(C) El Paso Matters.org This story was originally published by El Paso Matters.org and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . El Paso border crossings see uptick, remain below pre-pandemic levels [1] ['Emmanuel Rivas Valenzuela', 'More Emmanuel Rivas Valenzuela', 'El Paso Matters', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Where Img', 'Height Auto Max-Width'] Date: 2024-06-03 Three years had passed since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic when 25-year-old Mariano Adame eyed an opportunity in Downtown El Paso: A building near the international bridge that connects to Ciudad Juárez had plenty of room for his dream fashion boutique. He took a chance and opened IM Novelties at 222 Texas Ave. last fall with a hope that the post-pandemic struggles in border crossers – and therefore, a decrease in shoppers – would begin to reverse. “It was a risk (to open up), especially because we were the only ones in this building besides the coffee shop,” Adame said. “But I think since we’ve opened there, we’ve seen a few other businesses open, which gives Downtown life. I think that this city has a lot of local talent that needs to be explored. I’m hoping that my store can always be a platform.” Adame’s business is in the nearly vacant El Paso International Building, minutes away from the Stanton-Lerdo and Paso del Norte international bridges. The location was once prime real estate due to the high foot traffic – primarily Mexican shoppers who regularly visited Downtown in throngs to buy clothing, toys, electronics, housewares and a variety of knick-knacks, often in bulk. But the COVID-19 pandemic closed bridges to nonessential traffic and shut down businesses, and shoppers on both sides of the border turned to online sales for their goods. A family walks toward the Paso del Norte International Bridge carrying shopping bags from El Paso, April 27, 2024. (Corrie Boudreaux/El Paso Matters) Post-pandemic, the Downtown bridges have seen increases in northbound crossings, though they remain below pre-pandemic numbers. In 2023, about 4.2 million pedestrians crossed into El Paso from Juárez through the Stanton-Lerdo and Paso Del Norte bridges Downtown – a decrease of 45% over the 7.6 million in 2019, National Bureau of Transportation Services data shows. Pedestrian crossings had dipped to just under 3 million in 2021 in those two bridges. Across the El Paso Sector of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, northbound pedestrian and personal vehicle crossings decreased 4% to 17.8 million in 2023 compared with 2019. The sector encompasses the two Downtown bridges, as well as the Ysleta-Zaragoza bridge, the Bridge of the Americas, the Tornillo Port of Entry and the Santa Teresa Port of Entry in New Mexico. Tom Fullerton, a professor of finance and economics at the University of Texas at El Paso’s Woody L. Hunt College of Business, focuses on economics in northern Mexico and trade between the United States and Mexico. He said that with the rise of online shopping hubs, small businesses such as those found Downtown have struggled to keep up. “From 2017 forward, the increased convenience of e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, Ali Baba, and Mercado Libre have caused enormous sales losses for South-Central businesses that relied upon customer foot traffic,” Fullerton said. Insurance broker Lorena Sias-Cordova, 32, is among those Mexican shoppers who turned to online platforms during the pandemic and never looked back. “I used to shop Downtown (El Paso) every two or three weeks and now it’s about every three or four months,” said Sias-Cordova, who sells costume jewelry, purses and other accessories in Juárez swap meets with her family. “I buy on Amazon and have it delivered to my cousin’s house in El Paso.” Sias-Cordova sometimes shops for herself and her children at the Outlet Shoppes at El Paso or the Fountains at Farah, but even those visits are rare, she said. Does she see herself returning to shop in Downtown El Paso? “We still see it as a good option but not always a necessity or first choice,” she said. “It’s not what it used to be with so many closed stores.” Pedestrians with full shopping bags flow from El Paso into Juárez on the Paso del Norte International Bridge, April 27, 2024. (Corrie Boudreaux/El Paso Matters) Fullerton remains optimistic about Downtown’s future, saying the building vacancies may lead to small business growth. “Downtown commerce will eventually return to growth mode as a consequence of regional economic expansion, greater trade with Mexico, and lower rents per square foot resulting from currently high vacancy rates,” Fullerton said. “Once that space is available, there are going to be entrepreneurs that seize that opportunity. I also think that, given growth in both El Paso and Juárez, there is going to be increases in the customer base even if sales volumes have declined,” he said. Joey Arcos, 28, has owned and operated Barrio Vintage, 215 S. Mesa St., since 2019. Like many business owners throughout the country, Arcos struggled to keep his store open during the pandemic as most people relied on online shopping retailers like Amazon. “People stayed at home and their best option was to shop online,” Arcos said, adding that, ironically, a lot of people discovered his business on the internet. Arcos attributes his comeback to creative Instagram Reels and other social media posts where Barrio Vintage regularly posts new inventory and videos of Arcos buying inventory in Juárez. These videos garnered attention from younger shoppers in El Paso and Juárez, which is helped by the storefront’s proximity to the international bridges, he said. Downtown El Paso hotels, bars and restaurants While the Downtown shopping district – typically described as the area south of San Antonio Avenue between Santa Fe and Kansas streets – has taken a hit, other areas are seeing growth. A partial view of Downtown El Paso shows the landmark Plaza and Paso del Norte hotels. (Corrie Boudreaux/El Paso Matters) “The Downtown population is made up of different entities; residents, employees, hotel guests, the entertainment seekers and then the border crossers,” said Joe Gudenrath, director of the El Paso Downtown Management District. “You are seeing some vacancies, but then you are seeing a transition of those businesses catering to a new customer that is emerging Downtown – hotel guests.” In 2022, the last data available, Downtown hotels in El Paso paid more than $17.5 million in state and local hotel occupancy taxes charged to hotel guests compared with the $13.3 million in 2019. Hotel occupancy tax funds are used by the state for general operations and by the city and county to promote economic development. The Plaza Hotel Pioneer Park and Hotel Paso del Norte hotels opened in early 2020 just a few blocks north of Paisano Drive off South El Paso Street, aiding in that hotel tax growth and attracting visitors Downtown. The Texas Comptroller’s Office reports that nearly 7.5 million liquor, wine and beer sales transactions were made in the Downtown ZIP code area in 2023. This is up 7% from 2019 when 6.9 million transactions were made. From these transactions, almost $500,000 worth of taxes were collected in 2023, surpassing pre-pandemic numbers from 2019. Business buildings see slow rebirth The WestStar Tower in Downtown El Paso (Courtesy WestStar Tower at Hunt Plaza) Other business buildings are also opening Downtown, including the 18-story WestStar Tower at North Mesa Street and Missouri Avenue in 2021. Helen of Troy, the consumer products company, plans to move its headquarters into the One San Jacinto Plaza building. Helen of Troy is scheduled to relocate to the 54,000-square-foot space by early 2025. This, as Fullerton puts it, will help Downtown “resemble what it looked like in the 1970s.” “(Helen of Troy’s relocation) is going to increase the demand for restaurants and other types of services because a lot of people down there are associated with Helen of Troy,” Fullerton said. “We saw it begin with the WestStar Bank building. You are going to see a more vibrant Downtown because that increases the opportunity for all sorts of service companies.” [END] --- [1] Url: https://elpasomatters.org/2024/06/03/el-paso-border-crossings-port-of-entry-downtown-bridges-post-pandemic/ Published and (C) by El Paso Matters.org Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-ND 4.0 International. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/elpasomatters/