City competes with souvenir merchants

A Historic City News reporter stopped at the Visitor Information Center today in response to a citizen complaint from a private merchant who was upset that he had to compete with the City of St Augustine for retail sales of souvenir and gift items.

The nearby business is a locally owned, for-profit business that employs four residents. They pay about $2,500 monthly rent to be as close as they can be to where their customers are located. They pay taxes (city, county, state, and federal) and say they have about $125,000 worth of gift inventory, at cost.

“I have to make about $10,000 every month just to break even,” the business owner, who did not want to be identified for fear of repercussions, told editor Michael Gold this afternoon. The businessman’s question was why the City is operating a retail store, rent-free, staffed by city employees, in a location that all but insures the first sale?

What we found when we looked further is a store with a good bit of inventory, two clerks on duty at lunchtime on Thursday, and two couples browsing through the eclectic mix of touristy ephemera.

One observation immediately was the spectacle of all of the 450th Commemoration merchandise for sale. Recalling the price paid for four iterations of a city logo for the 450th, to find the one that could be licensed by companies eager to supply the world with highly sought-after t-shirts from Egypt, by way of St Augustine, it seemed clear that everything that could be imprinted with the design, was — but not for licensing fee income to the City, but for sale in the City Gift Shop.

The complainant was right that he should have been able to purchase licensed merchandise with the logo, designed and paid for with his own taxes, for sale in his shop. Instead, we were told that none of his suppliers offered the St Augustine 450th logo merchandise on a wholesale basis.

And it is possible that the vacationers shopping this afternoon weren’t particularly impressed with the “sinking ship” logo, or the former coat of arms with “450th” emblazoned across the crest. In fact, 450th Christmas ornaments (yes, they have several different styles ranging in price up to $20) were on sale for 20% off. 450th beer mugs were discounted by 50%, offering a buy one, get one special. They have the city emblem on baby spoons, fake bronze coins, and plastic ones, key chains, glass paperweights, note boxes, lapel pins, shot glasses, vinyl decals, coffee cups, tile coasters, and even lens cleaning cloths. Believe it or Not.

In the past five or six years, the City of St Augustine has strayed from its mission to provide public services, and has ventured into the world of business — and, very poorly, it would appear.

In addition to 450th merchandise ad nauseam, the city has purchased for stock such “big sellers” as a $300 set of candle holders made from oyster shells, $50 hoodies that say “Older than Dirt”, an entire gondola display of conch, sand dollars, and exotic seashells that no one knows where they came from, as well as the requisite assortment of greeting cards and postcards pleading, “Wish you were here”.

Trinkets, trash, and treasures — all for sale, purchased with your tax dollars. If it doesn’t sell, gets shoplifted, or knocked off the shelf and broken, you eat it. Sick days, vacation time, retirement, health insurance, and salaries, paid for by the taxpayers of the City of St Augustine.

Government is not supposed to compete with private businesses. Years ago, before there ever was a Visitors Convention Bureau, when the City leased the Visitors Center to the Chamber of Commerce, members of the St Augustine Attractions Association reached an understanding with the City. The role of the City would be to assist with destination marketing — but the City was not going to get into the attraction business.

Activities that charge admission, like rock concerts, gallery exhibitions, wedding planning, wine festivals, and the like were reserved for private businessmen and promoters — not the City.

Where did we go wrong?