Restaurants play outsized role in thriving downtowns
To bring back economic activity, hurricane-battered downtown broadens focus — In 2009, the Cedar Rapids Downtown District responded and rebuilt after flooding impacted nearly 450 downtown businesses. Read the archive article, "Campaign helps to recover and rebuild." ...
Partnering with event venue spurs downtown spending — See how the Downtown Windsor BIA partners with a local comic convention in the archive article, "Leveraging existing events to draw visitors." ...
Trends shaping downtown retail — The team at Stores, the magazine of the National Retail Federation has published its annual consumer trends predictions for the year ahead. ...
Two downtowns team up to promote assets — The cities of Sault Ste. Marie Michigan and Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada, have established a new social media presence — Downtown Sault Ste. Marie Squared — as a way of promoting events and businesses in each city. Watch a brief video on the benefits of co-marketing below. https://youtu.be/Qt4_dqr2qQ8 ...
After disaster, ad campaign helps bring back visitors — Davenport, IA, suffered devastating flooding in the spring of 2019. To bring visitors back after the cleanup, they began an ad campaign that showed downtown as a vibrant place that had mostly recovered from the spring flood. See video ads featuring Downtown Davenport below. https://youtu.be/4MPugZbPchs https://youtu.be/00flxMmNYz0 ...
Downtown Owner’s Manual, mentorship program, help new businesses succeed — In one simple but powerful tool, Janesville, WI, created a Downtown Owner’s Manual that answers a common question: Who’s in charge of that? ...
Increasing outdoor seating — Outdoor seating has been an indicator of vibrancy in the Philadelphia Center City District since sidewalk cafes were first authorized in 1995. Read the report, Outdoor Seating 2019. ...