MADISON, Wis. -- Despite the recent closing of Cafe Montmartre, a popular downtown establishment, due to the economy, downtown businesses said the high level of foot traffic shows that the downtown remains a vital place for businesses.

Janesville resident Raejean Schlenke on Wednesday brought her visiting family members to downtown Madison to show them around.

"I'm here with my sister outside of Chicago and my mom from the Florida Keys," Schlenke said. "(We came here) to see the beautiful Capitol, and also State Street for the stores and the restaurants."

Schlenke said her attraction to downtown Madison won't go away.

"We'll continue to come up here because we just like to pick a different restaurant to go to all the time," she said.

That's good news for Peter Mcelvanna, who hopes to defy these trying economic times by opening a new restaurant right on the Capitol square.

"Our dream was to actually open up our own place. And this place literally fell in our lap," Mcelvanna said.

The location at 20 W. Mifflin St. used to be another restaurant, but the establishment shut its doors this past November after just 10 months of business. But that's not dimming Mcelvanna's optimism.

"The thing is, you're never going to know. You have to try it. If it doesn't work, I'll be shocked and stunned. We've checked the numbers; we've done the analysis. We found that it should be a success," he said.

Madison's Central Business Improvement District said the ebb and flow of downtown will always be there.

"You have to know your market, know what appeals to your customer, understand the foot traffic in the area, which is phenomenal," said Mary Carbine, of the Madison Central Business Improvement District. "Downtown is always evolving. In a way, we're always seeing a different downtown. We have probably about 30 or 40 businesses here that have been here for 20 years or longer, as well as the new ones. So we have this great mix."

Those 30 or 40 longtime establishments make up about 10 percent of the downtown businesses overall. The city said businesses come and go regardless of the economy.

The city's business experts said there are several variables that could affect the success of a business. For instance, in the summer some businesses lose many student customers.