Crowds aren't moseying down to shop amid Old West decor.

DOWNTOWN San Dimas seemed like a ghost town late on a recent Friday afternoon, with several businesses along the Western-themed-stretch of West Bonita Avenue called Frontier Village having closed for the day.

The Old West touches, including wooden sidewalks, go back 30 years and have been part of the city's attempts to create an identity for the area. But like commercial redevelopment efforts of many smaller communities, the process has had its fits and starts.

Two years ago, a Lowe's home improvement store opened at the corner of Arrow Highway and Bonita Avenue, and last year the Community Redevelopment Agency renovated the eight-acre Puddingstone shopping center that had been built in the 1960s. Now called the San Dimas Town Center, it has attracted two anchors, Albertsons and CVS pharmacy, and the last space was leased last year.

The city is now looking for more development. "The idea would be to capitalize on Lowe's success and the success of the Puddingstone and continue along that path," said City Manager Blaine Michaelis.

But improvements aren't happening soon enough for some business owners. Kalani Gapido, who opened Longhorn Cafe last July--the only restaurant in Frontier Village--says he has had trouble attracting customers other than nearby merchants.

"It's an old-fashioned town," he said, noting that he is not allowed to put an A-frame sign outside his restaurant and has already been warned by city officials to remove a table on the boardwalk.

Gapido, who selected San Dimas over more expensive locations in Pasadena, had planned on opening a Hawaiian restaurant but switched to a barbecue concept after deciding the original plan didn't fit with the "Knott's Berry Farm" feel of the area.

Bob Emerson, co-owner of Emerson's Gift Shoppe, says he's not getting enough foot traffic. "Some of us would hope the redoing would move West and catch fire on these two blocks," said Emerson, referring to the area on West Bonita Avenue from San Dimas Avenue to Cataract Avenue. "It's us vs. them and getting people to cross over to the other side is an ongoing battle."

Frank Sibille, co-owner of Nostalgia Nook, a 1,900-square-foot antique shop that opened in March 2004, said he wouldn't call San Dimas business-friendly, "but I understand the Old West flavor they have here and are trying to keep. It makes it different than going to the mall."

Located 25 miles from Los Angeles, San Dimas is best known for its water slide park, Raging Waters, an annual rodeo and the 2,000-acre Frank G. Bonelli Regional County Park.

The town was born in 1887 due to Southern California's land boom and the completion of the Santa Fe Railway's main line through the area (Legend has it that the area was known for its horse thieves and got its name from St. Dismas, a repentant thief who died alongside Jesus.) By 1890, San Dimas had a hardware store, a post office, two pipe-yards and a restaurant.

Many buildings in the Frontier Village area were built in the early 1900s and the original structures still exist, although they did receive Western-style storefronts in the 1970s.

Bonita Avenue is home to the longest running business in the area, San Dimas Grain Co., which was built in 1897 and sold in November to Deanna Castle and Scott Gailey. Caste said that the store, which sells pet and livestock feed, also has a hay barn and separate veterinary office and is thriving, thanks to the volume of horses in the area.

San Dimas Ace Hardware is another business housed in a building of historical significance. It was built in 1910, and demolished in 1996. But it was then re-built using the original bricks and some of the original wood flooring.

Besides bolstering retail offerings, the city is also trying to find ways to improve parking and make the area more pedestrian friendly. But one thing likely to remain is the Western theme. "It will continue unless there's a better idea," Michaelis said. "I think it adds some character."