Sylvania Ave. businesses get help to stay afloat

For every $3 a business owner spends, the city will match it with a dollar.

Some businesses along Sylvania Avenue near Secor are trying to stay afloat, and a council vote yesterday could help.

It's either fight or flee. And there are businesses that would rather stay than leave. There's plenty of customers who could use the Cake Store and the Hearing Center or buy from the Toddler Store.

Phil's TV has been here nearly 60 years, but the owner says he could use a good sprucing up on the outside. Store owner Randy Auslnder says, "The signs that we have out there right now are 12 to 15 years old and starting to peel and look pretty tattered."

So Tuesday, council approved a $30,000 grant to help businesses like Phil's pay for a new sign, or landscaping or curb work. For every $3 a business owner spends, the city will match it with a dollar. Councilman Tom Waniewski proposed the allowance. He says, "If it starts to look rundown, the dominoes start to fall and everybody's running a quarter mile to Sylvania."

Right now, this section of Sylvania is at the tipping point and needs some help. This is really what the program's designed to avoid - 'For Lease' signs. That means a business used to be located here, probably failed. But it also means opportunity for another business. It's an opportunity to move in and become a neighborhood staple and help save Area Active and Willie Smith's Party Store. He's feeling the pinch of a tough economy, as well as Jim Benschoter's Pest Control Company, which needs to replace some missing roof tiles.

Tom Waniewski believes the $30,000 could help roughly 24 businesses make some upgrades to their store fronts. These are all small, locally owned businesses Toledo cannot afford to lose.

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