Transform Your Entire Neighborhood Small business owners are doing much of the work being done to revitalize historic business districts in the U.S. The National Trust for Historic Preservation's Main Street programs have been working through small businesses since 1980 and is generating billions of dollars in physical improvements, thousands of net new businesses, and hundreds of thousands of net new jobs.

Topic for Discussion: Why do Carol and Dean prefer to be on Monroe Street rather than in a new suburban mall?

Answer: Carol and Dean Schroeder bought the building on Monroe Street in Madison, Wisconsin over twenty years ago because as Carol put it, Malls arent us. She goes on to say that she fell in love with the English style leaded glass front window of the old building and she is attracted to all things English.

Alicia Gehring is director of Wisconsin’s Main Street program, and she said, “It's a good place to do business because you can do things your way. You can be an independent business owner and you don't have to follow the management rules in shopping malls. Two, there's always a spirit of camaraderie in these kinds of business districts, so you can get involved more in the community. And more and more business owners, small-business owners particularly, really want to give back to the community, and it's a way to do that. And, third, it is a great place for small businesses that are unique to be unique and to sell that uniqueness.”

Carol and Dean may or may not make as much money in an historic business district as they could in a high-traffic mall. Rents in a mall are typically higher than rents in old buildings which means they would have to generate bigger sales to pay the bigger rents to realize the same percentage of profits. Also, Carol and Dean own the building personally, so their business, Orange Tree Imports, pays rent to them. This is a great asset-building strategy. If they still have a mortgage on the building, they benefit personally from tax deductions they can take for the interest they pay.

Also, the rent payment from Orange Tree is