You can lead a horse to water . . .
An interesting thing was brought up at the last Merchant's Meeting -- the fact that the BID and Merchants Groups, the Chamber of Commerce and many others, spend thousands of dollars to get people to the Grove all the time and yet many merchants do nothing to partake of these opportunities.
Many of you don't even put on a funny hat at Madd Hatter Day or even Halloween! Not even red, white and blue on the 4th of July. Not even green on St. Patrick's Day -- simple things like that.
There are all sorts of events planned to bring people here from the Bed Race to the King Mango Strut, to Fourth of July and so on. So much planning goes into each event. And all the business owner has to do is open their doors and participate.
No one is asking the merchants to hang on ladders and put up signs or pay money for advertising or do anything other than be gracious, play along and participate. Earth Hour was a dud for the most part, but those who participated were rewarded with business and happy customers. Aside from the fact whether you believe in the Earth Hour concept or not, that is not the point, the point is that it was to be a Grove event and many just didn't want to deal with it.
Our Chamber is one of the most active anywhere. Most places have Chambers of Commerce that throw a luncheon once in awhile and collect dues and don't do much else. Our Chamber is involved in almost every Grove event, and they don't need to be.
We talk about every event here in the Grapevine, before, during and after the event. There is no reason why anyone can't pick up on this and participate in their own little way. What have you planned for Bike Day on April 26? Thousands of people will be here. What are you going to do to get them to visit your place of business and then have them come back again? This is your opportunity to attract new customers on a regular basis.
The BID, Chamber, Merchants Group, etc. are bringing thousands here (with the Bed Race, 4th of July, Bike Day, Roberta Flack Concert, the monthly Art Stroll -- all this is happening, scroll down, read about it below), they are not asking the merchants for a penny do do this. What are you going to do to accommodate them and make money in the process? Are you literally going to open your doors and invite them in?
You can lead a horse to water (we can bring the crowds here), but you can't make him drink (you need to show them what you have to offer -- force feed them your hospitality, food, drinks, art and wares!)
Many of you don't even put on a funny hat at Madd Hatter Day or even Halloween! Not even red, white and blue on the 4th of July. Not even green on St. Patrick's Day -- simple things like that.
There are all sorts of events planned to bring people here from the Bed Race to the King Mango Strut, to Fourth of July and so on. So much planning goes into each event. And all the business owner has to do is open their doors and participate.
No one is asking the merchants to hang on ladders and put up signs or pay money for advertising or do anything other than be gracious, play along and participate. Earth Hour was a dud for the most part, but those who participated were rewarded with business and happy customers. Aside from the fact whether you believe in the Earth Hour concept or not, that is not the point, the point is that it was to be a Grove event and many just didn't want to deal with it.
Our Chamber is one of the most active anywhere. Most places have Chambers of Commerce that throw a luncheon once in awhile and collect dues and don't do much else. Our Chamber is involved in almost every Grove event, and they don't need to be.
We talk about every event here in the Grapevine, before, during and after the event. There is no reason why anyone can't pick up on this and participate in their own little way. What have you planned for Bike Day on April 26? Thousands of people will be here. What are you going to do to get them to visit your place of business and then have them come back again? This is your opportunity to attract new customers on a regular basis.
The BID, Chamber, Merchants Group, etc. are bringing thousands here (with the Bed Race, 4th of July, Bike Day, Roberta Flack Concert, the monthly Art Stroll -- all this is happening, scroll down, read about it below), they are not asking the merchants for a penny do do this. What are you going to do to accommodate them and make money in the process? Are you literally going to open your doors and invite them in?
You can lead a horse to water (we can bring the crowds here), but you can't make him drink (you need to show them what you have to offer -- force feed them your hospitality, food, drinks, art and wares!)
posted by Tom Falco at 12:30 PM
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8 Comments:
Grape,
In the nearly 30 years I have played and worked here, the Grove has always played with a bigger reputation than it actually has. Back in the days of the Coconut Grover I can't tell you how many merchants told me that they didn't need to advertiser with the Grover, or do any marketing at all, because this was the Grove, that they were paying $10k a month for a place that was $2k elsewhere because the people were already here. All they had to was put out crappy T shirts, etc., and they would get rich. With exception of Maya Hatcha, none of them are around today.
As a matter of fact, just about every store in the Grove has had at least six businesses on that site in the past 25 years.
It's difficult to convince a business owner who believes his product is the most unique in the world that you still have to market yourself or you will be gone soon.
Where do BID and the Chamber get their money? From the businesses in the grove. So, your whole argument in this piece is flawed. BID, BIC, the Chamber, etc. work for the business owners, and wouldn't exist without them.
I like the ethos of your little rant, but the logos is a trainwreck.
That Guy,
The BID has been in existence only since March 17th when the Mayor signed the enacting ordinance, less than a month ago. The assessments went out to property owners only last week, so probably few, if any, businesses have actually paid anything into the BID thus far. One could argue that it is perhaps a tad early to suggest that the businesses aren't getting their money's worth with the BID.
But, hey, one can always go off half-cocked.
No Whine:
first, um NO. just no. please try to be right from time to time. BIC rose from BID, and both are government entities operating on tax dollars.
And for the record, I never made any assertion about anyone getting their money's worth; rather, I pointed out that these groups are simply doing what they're funded to do, and that they are beholden to the taxpayer, not the other way around. (just like all of government).
it seems that it is you, that was half-cocked.
The hospitality and art business in the Grove is what brings people here. Everyone else just feeds of the restaurants, Bars, art galleries, and nightclubs. This is where Sarnoff had it wrong with the 3am licenses. The hospitality merchants usually participate in these events. Its the retail establishments that have never put any effort in bringing people here.
The point of this article was to point out the BIC/BID, Chamber, et al are all bringing people in, but many of the merchants are not taking advantage of that and they are losing business due to that.
Yeah like a lot lof art is sold between 3:00 and 5:00 a.m.
Anon 9:44
You are obviously one of the people who stay awake from all of the "noise"
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