28 • The Beacon June 30 , 2022
New downtown group forms for business owners
By Marianne Austin
Coshocton business owner Linnet Lowe organized the first meeting with local merchants to discuss ways of promoting downtown businesses on June 8 at Mercantile on Main . She wanted a meeting for business owners to get together to discuss what is going on in Coshocton and what kind of shopping experiences people
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Lanny Spaulding , director of Our Town Coshocton , attended the meeting . “ We are nonprofit , based in historic preservation with most , if not all , of the buildings in the Main Street area being of historic nature ,” he said . “ Our end goal is a building with a business in it is a building saved . Our historic buildings are an asset
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“ You can see the crane at the Selby building and workers doing windows on the terracotta of the rowhouse down from the radio station . It is deliberate and not all a coincidence because we want to make downtown Coshocton an attractive option to
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visit or consider moving here permanently . The big thing is for people to spend money in local businesses . Our interaction is making sure you get a lot of foot traffic and they are spending money in the stores here .”
DORA has been a tool to help with that , but it ’ s a new thing . More than a thousand people came out for the pub crawl . DORA is a Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area that has been approved for the city of Coshocton . Also , the stores can consider extended hours during special events .
“ The summer concert series will begin on June 25 , and we are anticipating a lot of people for that ,” Spaulding said . “ The core of it is the retailers , but people need a reason to come here , like a museum or a monument or something like that . We want to give options . If we have a lot of shops and people become aware of that , they want to come .
“ Making sure to preserve the historic district has incentives like historic tax credits , and there are a few funding pools coming from the state . We may have an impressive pool of dollars coming in to restore the buildings . If we are working with you , we want to make sure your business is thriving and successful . This is an opportunity for everyone to get together once a month and share some ideas and concerns .”
One idea discussed was the use of signage — signs that look nice but tasteful and draw people to businesses . The group intends to work on design guidelines for the downtown and get a firm to come in and make recommendations , then discuss ideas with business owners on Main Street and talk about how they want it to look .
Another idea was art sculptures that would enable people to find businesses through visible art , signs and more — using signs as a fixture for letting tourists know where available businesses are located . Signs should have uniformity , which will give it a flow instead of a hodgepodge . A sign with an app for a directory of small businesses was another suggestion .
Also , an economic development committee through Our Town is looking at getting a digital kiosk for businesses and possibly trying to get a few more for high-traffic areas and a self-guided historical tour .
The meeting looked at things other cities have successfully done to promote businesses , like having shop hops or a punch card for each store to win a door prize and bringing back sidewalk sales in the summer .
Keeping downtown clean and inviting helps with the look of the city , and business owners should get to know other business owners . Having Christmas decorations on Main Street with more lights and possibly a garland also was discussed , as well as purchasing ornaments with store names to hang on the Christmas tree beside WTNS .
Having a Coshocton Facebook page is an easier form of communication than emails or texting , and people can see what the city has to offer . Small businesses can recommend other businesses if they are looking for a restaurant or a particular thing . A suggestion was made for having flyers , business cards or visitors guides for local businesses . The group agreed to start bringing ideas together of what they would like to do and why and will address these things with city council .
Meetings will be the second Wednesday of each month . The next meeting will be Wednesday , July 13 at 5:30 p . m . at Rust Decor .
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