Last month, 37 representatives from downtown businesses gathered in the first meeting of the Downtown Merchants Alliance. The goal of the Merchants Alliance is to get more residents and business owners involved in leading the growth they want to see in downtown New Castle.
“There is a lot of excitement about the momentum that is happening downtown. For some time, downtown hasn’t been as alive as it could be,” explained Carrie Barrett, executive director of New Castle Main Street. “As our downtown ‘wakes up,’ we need to know how we can best market to our community and the outside world.”
As we answer those questions, the Merchants Alliance will work toward creating an atmosphere where people can easily communicate. The group will learn how to better conduct business with each other while helping new businesses that are just starting out.
Recurring topics at the initial Alliance meeting were branding, reciprocal discounts between downtown stores, and signage for our downtown. We agreed to meet again Wednesday, February 27 at 5:30 at 1414 Venue to discuss these topics further.
After wrapping up our meeting we left the beautiful 1414 Venue facility and went to The Back Porch where we socialized over some lager. It was a productive meeting and a great start to getting more people involved!
Know a business that should be involved in the Downtown Merchants Alliance? Share our next meeting date or send a message to newcastlemainstreet@gmail.com.
