Downtown merchants to prepare for grand opening of MAD with free presentation
Downtown merchants have the opportunity to attend a free presentation Aug. 24 that will help them prepare for the opening of the Murphy Arts District.
Main Street El Dorado invited Mark Miller, small business consultant for Main Street Arkansas, to El Dorado to meet with downtown business owners as the city readies for the Sept. 27 grand opening of MAD, an arts and entertainment district that is under construction as part of a $100 million project on the south end of downtown.
The theme of Miller’s presentation will be “Be a Top Dog!: Take Your Fair Share from the ‘Big Box’ Pack.”
The event will be held at the El Dorado-Union County Chamber of Commerce, 111 W. Main, starting with a “Mingle and Snack” at 5:45 p.m.
Miller’s presentation will follow at 6:15 p.m.
Downtown retailers who plan to attend the event are encouraged to RSVP by calling the Main Street El Dorado office at 870862-4747.
“He will speak for about 45 minutes and he will leave 15 minutes for questions,” said Beth Brumley, executive director of MSE.
About 40 spaces will be available for the presentation and light h’ordeuvres and snacks will be served, Brumley said.
With the multiday grand opening celebration of MAD less than two months away, Brumley said Main Street wanted to do its part along with the rest of the city to prepare.
This year, Main Street is
partnering with El Dorado Festivals and Events, Inc., who is helming the MAD project, to present the 30th anniversary of MusicFest.
The MAD celebration will be held Sept. 27 — Oct. 1, and MusicFest, Main Street’s flagship fundraiser, will be held in conjunction with the celebration on Sept. 29-30.
Both events are expected to bring droves of visitors to town, and Brumley said Main Street wanted to reach out to local retailers and offer them some advice on what to expect.
“They’re excited. Some of them are nervous, and we wanted to offer some assistance and give them ideas on how to capture some of that in their stores and grow with El Dorado,”
Brumley said. “That’s one of the benefits of the Main Street Arkansas program."
Main Street Arkansas provides technical assistance and design services to help create economic development in the state’s downtown areas.
Miller’s presentation will include information on what attracts people to shop downtown instead of at “big box” retailers, factors that help small stores survive, and thinking outside of the traditional retail “box.”
The partnership with Festivals and Events is part of a new direction that Main Street has undertaken this year to move away from its promotions/ events-heavy bent and focus more on the other three components of the national Main Street program’s four-point approach to downtown revitalization and vitality:
promotion, organization, economic restructuring and design.
Main Street previously agreed that Festivals and Events — a private, nonprofit organization — would take the lead in bringing entertainment-oriented events to El Dorado. Board members also said they would look for other opportunities to partner with Festivals and Events.
Brumley said scheduling Miller’s presentation is an example of how Main Street is focusing more on organization, economic restructuring and design and working to fulfill its mission of drawing people downtown.
“That was one of the things we wanted to do when I started was to get away from promotions,” she said. “We’re trying to do other things that aren’t evens and promotions, and
this is something that we wanted to offer to downtown businesses.”
Brumley was hired as MSE executive director in April.
She said downtown business owners are brainstorming and thinking outside the box ahead of the anticipated influx of visitors in September and beyond.
The aim of Festivals and Events is to provide entertainment that will bring people to town year-round and create a new, local industry based on theater production.
Brumley said merchants have been discussing such ideas as later hours to accommodate out-of-town
visitors.
Many downtown businesses close at 6 p.m.
“Retail is a little different from restaurants. You’ve got to be open when people are going to be there,” Brumley said.
“It’s about bringing people in to see the charm of your store. They may not buy anything at first, but they’ll come back and buy something,” she continued. “The effort will pay off later on. It’s not always about those dollars right then.”
She said Miller will also help merchants understand that with out-oftown visitors will come a different type of customer.
“Sometimes you’ve got return customers, local customers and you know their needs, but these will be visitors, so we’re going to have to retrain ourselves,” she said.
“We just want to be supportive, and one of the biggest things is communication, and we certainly want to keep the lines of communication open,” Brumley said. “We’re super excited. This is one of the first things we’re doing that’s not events or promotions, and we’re hoping for a good turnout.”