Some Thoughts on the Economic Revitalization of Small Town Downtowns

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Posted by: N. David Milder, DANTH, Inc. and Andrew Dane, Short Elliott Hendrickson Inc.

Introduction

Discussions about the traits of strong downtowns and what makes them succeed usually focus on larger cities such as Vancouver, BC, Portland, OR, New York, NY or Charleston, SC. However, a lot can also be learned by looking at things on a smaller scale. This happened to the authors, when we recently looked at downtowns in two small Wisconsin communities. What we learned from them is applicable to many other communities of comparable size.

Our experiences in these two communities certainly confirmed that two basic and broadly held revitalization tenets are just as applicable to small communities as they are to large ones: the need for a comprehensive approach to downtown revitalization and the need to focus on leveraging existing assets. The focus here will be on three other topics that evidence these tenets and deserve our attention:

  • The surprisingly complex economic development challenges that many small downtowns typically face
  • Providing jobs, especially in more rural areas, is a chronic and seemingly intractable problem
  • These small communities too often lack the resources and full range of professionals to initiate and manage broad economic changes.
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Helping Independent Downtown Merchants Engage Effectively In E-Marketing: Part 2

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Introduction

This is the second of a two part article. Part 1 can be found at http://tinyurl.com/bxhdx8a

Over the past year, DANTH Inc. has experimented with such social media as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Pinterest and revamped our website, blog  and email program. To support this effort we did a lot of research on what the various e-marketing tools do best and the challenges small firms like ours have in using them. In this two-part article I would like to share with the downtown revitalization community what we learned from our e-marketing overhaul, so that more independent downtown merchants (e.g., retailers and restaurateurs) might make an effective transition to e-commerce.

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Helping Independent Downtown Merchants Engage Effectively In E-Marketing: Part 1

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Introduction

Over the past year, DANTH Inc. has experimented with such social media as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Pinterest and revamped our website, blog  and email program. To support this effort we did a lot of research on what the various e-marketing tools do best and the challenges small firms like ours have in using them. In this two-part article I would like to share with the downtown revitalization community what we learned from our e-marketing overhaul, so that more independent downtown merchants (e.g., retailers and restaurateurs) might make an effective transition to e-commerce.

What we learned was the importance of an analytical process able to identify the e-marketing tools that will most effectively use an organization’s scarce resources to achieve critical marketing objectives. This process:

  • Starts off by looking at and prioritizing the organization’s marketing objectives
  • Then matches them with the e-marketing tools (e.g., website, emails, Twitter, Facebook, blog, etc.) that can best achieve each of those objectives. These two topics will be covered here in Part 1
  • And next selects those objective-matching tools that  can be implemented, because the organization has the required financial resources and either has or can acquire the needed skilled employees. This topic will be covered in two weeks in Part 2.
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Right Fit Your Downtown Retail: Adapting to the new normal for downtown retail

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There’s a New Normal for Downtown Retail
Today, it is essential for downtown developers, landlords, economic development organizations and local elected officials to recognize and adapt to the new normal that has emerged for downtown retailing. Consumer behavior has changed significantly – they are buying less, more deliberately and increasingly online.

The demand for downtown retail space has changed accordingly. Chains are looking for fewer and smaller spaces, while developing smaller formats for entry into new market areas. The strategic importance of …

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Many Downtown Movie Theaters Have Closed: Some Lessons For Downtown Organizations

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Introduction.

Across the nation, about 10% of our movie theaters recently have closed or will do so in the near future. They are folding because of long term declining attendance and, more immediately, their operators’ inability to pay for the equipment costs of transitioning to the digital film distribution and projection techniques that the major Hollywood studios have made mandatory – no digital, no films. Most are relatively small houses located in small and medium-sized downtowns. Obviously, their closings probably will …

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