Low commercial lease rates have attracted two new businesses – a couple’s first small business and the revamped version of a half-century-old photography retailer – to downtown Scottsdale.

Steve and Jeanine Rometty are planning to open Old Town Candy and Toys in early October at 4000 N. Scottsdale Road, near Grimaldi’s Pizzeria. She has been a teacher for the past 17 years, while he has worked for Todd’s Porcelain & Fiberglass Repair for 22 years.

Charles Benz is opening PhotoMart at 7038 E. Indian School Road. He recently closed Photomark, which had been on McDowell Road in Phoenix for more than 50 years, and this will be a new business model for his retail photography business.

Trent Goulette, vice president of sales and leasing at Southwest Retail Group Inc., handled both leases.

“The (lease) rates are certainly below what we used to get,” he said.

Jeanine Rometty said she has wanted to open a small business but was unsure of the timing until she and her husband saw this location. The couple live in Scottsdale.

“It reminded us of a place called Cousin’s Old Town Candy Shop in San Diego,” she said. “It’s going to be a candy store . . . and then Steve’s been an artist all his life and he often makes toys for our kids. So I thought, let’s combine the two ideas and that will give him an artistic outlet.”

While on summer break from teaching at Grayhawk Elementary School, Jeanine consulted with the local Small Business Development Center and drafted a business plan. Throughout her research, she found that the candy business is “almost recession proof.”

“Over and over a lot of people used terms like that because it’s a small, affordable luxury that they can still afford to treat themselves to,” she said.

The interior of the shop will look like an old Western general store, and the couple are doing all of the work themselves. They are looking forward to winter tourism bringing more people to the area.

“Jeanine has walked around and talked to quite a few of the small-business owners around here, and they kind of helped reassure us that when the season comes, there’s a lot of business down in this area,” Steve Rometty said. “That’s what we’re banking on.”

Over on Indian School, Benz and his staff have been busy preparing to open PhotoMart. For several decades, Photomark was the state’s largest distributor-dealer of photographic equipment and supplies. However, the one-two punch of the shift to digital photography and the recession proved catastrophic to the business.

“We had to either simply give it up and shut the doors completely . . . or, I said to our key people, do you want to try a new business that benefits from our history and experience, but is a different business model?” Benz said. “We all put our heads together and decided . . . we want to be part of a next-generation photographic center.”

The first decision was to switch locations, and the group chose Scottsdale for the business, he said.

“Since photography can be a profession, a hobby and also an art form for many people . . . we thought being in the gallery area would be the perfect place,” Benz said.

The new business, with a new name, will be much smaller, under 2,000 square feet compared with 20,000 square feet, and will follow a boutique model, he said.

“What we’re going to do now is focus on the products and services that are not easily available in the big retailers like Best Buy or over the Internet,” Benz said.

The new business will include photography classes, camera and equipment rentals, and a consignment component for people who want to sell their photographic equipment, he said. In addition, it will provide space for local photographers to display their work, he said.

“Those are all the kinds of activities that are not immediately available in the big alternatives, and all require some knowledge and experience,” Benz said.

If the new business model proves successful, Benz would like to open locations across the Valley and Arizona.

“After 50 years, you can’t complain,” he said. “Founder Bob Markow had a good run and I’ve had a good run, but now it’s time for something new and something different that will hopefully sustain itself for the next 50 years.”