Mediaboss Marketing

Google aid offered to downtown El...

El PASO, Texas - The shops along El Paso Street in downtown El Paso are known for having some of the best deals in the city. But business is down. Some owners have even had to close their stores.

Luis Hernandez helps run the family business Crystal Jeans. The shop is located on El Paso Street. He described business is slow.

"Not too bad, but not too good," Hernandez said.

Joe Gudenrath is the executive director for El Paso's Downtown Management District. He said there are a few factors behind the drop in business for shops located close to the United States - Mexico border

"They are kind of getting hit on three different levels. The first one is the impact on retail across the country and around the world. That industry itself is somewhat shrinking from brick-and-mortar stores," Gudenrath said.

Gundenrath also pointed to the fluctuation in the valuation of the peso and the number of shoppers crossing the border from Mexico.

"The quantity of people crossing the bridge by foot from Mexico into the downtown over the past five months, since the beginning of January through May, the data that we have received has indicated that the amount of pedestrians coming over has decreased in four out of those five months," Gundenrath said.

But help is on the way from Google, the company behind the hugely popular search engine with the same name.

Google is partnering with El Paso's Downtown Management District to help downtown business owners create an online presence.

Rudy Vasquez is the marketing and communications manager for the Downtown Management District.

"They are inviting organizations like us to kind of help put businesses on the map online, because not everyone is," said Vasquez.

Vasquez noted many of the downtown shop owners have been in business for decades, but they may not have kept up with changes in the retail industry.

"Technology is advancing so quick, it's so exponential, that it is hard to keep up. It's what we are trying to help them do. We are going face to face and we sit down with them and we run them through the process, and walk them through just getting the registration online. We might take a picture if they need it and just make sure that they have a presence," Vasquez said.

The Downtown Management District started at the Los Colorinas Mexican restaurant.

Juan Cho is the owner of the Best Choice clothing store on El Paso Street. He also reports fewer customers.

"Slow at the moment. Slow," Cho said.

But he likes the idea of expanding the visibility of his business online and looks forward to the visit from the Downtown Management District.

"I think it's a good idea. Then people would know about us. I think they don't know," Cho said.

But another business owner scoffed at the suggestion and said he planned on leaving internet marketing to the next generation.

Vasquez said the next generation of business owners may need the current ones to take action now in order to survive.

"Evolution is a big deal -- adapting as markets change -- and this is definitely one of the ways. They have to adapt. Any business across the country has to adapt. Finding that silver bullet is tough, but you just have to find that right cocktail," Vasquez said.

More here:
Google wants to help downtown El Paso shops get online - KVIA El Paso