MAIN STREET AWAKENING
Montco town looks ahead to events returning
AMBLER >> Things are happening in downtown Ambler.
While the COVID-19 pandemic still remains a part of daily life, Ambler Main Street Manager Elizabeth Wahl Kunzier is looking ahead. That starts with a calendar of events for 2021.
“I feel like the community really needs it,” Wahl Kunzier said. “The businesses are suffering. The theater lights have been dark.”
The borough’s social schedule was initially approved in February, and was revised later that month, according to Wahl Kunzier, who added she presented to the Ambler Borough Council on Wednesday to give additional guidance about some changes for First Fridays and Oktoberfest.
The festive occasion in autumn is typically a one-day event, but Wahl Kunzier instead decided to combine it with the annual Ambler Arts and Music Festival. It’ll be held in October with a full line-up over two days.
“It’ll be as close to Music Fest as we can get it,” she said.
The town’s traditional biannual Restaurant Week will also take place in July.
It was held as scheduled last January, but due to health and safety restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, Wahl Kunzier switched things up by holding a number of “restaurant weekends” with
space for outdoor seating as occupancy allowances increased.
Wahl Kunzier said she hopes residents and visitors will support the town by safely patronizing its shops and restaurants.
“I’m hoping that the community is supportive, and that everyone pays attention and does the right thing. Everyone stays in their lane. Because it can be really, really great, we just have to follow the rules,” she said.
It’s been quite the year for Ambler’s small shops, she said.
Downtown is home to restaurants, retail stores and entertainment venues — which took a hit as the rapidly evolving, ongoing public health crisis forced the closures of many nonessential businesses and limited area eateries to delivery and takeout options for months.
“It’s interesting. Some of them saw the writing on the wall and just closed down,” Wahl Kunzier said.
A number of businesses were able to receive federal assistance by way of grants and the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program. Wahl Kunzier spotlighted Ambler Savings Bank as a tool in “walking businesses through what to do” in obtaining the loans.
Throughout the state’s three-phase recovery initiative, the town’s establishments were slowly able to increase occupancy rates.
But it took some creativity to maintain the business scene.
For some, such as The
Lucky Well Owner and Chef Chad Rosenthal, that meant dreaming up a “fried chicken sandwich that was a huge hit,” Wahl Kunzier noted. Other restaurants offered curbside pickup.
“Anybody that could pivot, and did pivot, lived through,” she said.
Other brick and mortar stores found they needed to get online to stay afloat.
“I think everyone has pretty much figured out what to do,” she said. “Those that didn’t have an online presence made sure that they got a webpage and now have an online presence and a bigger online footprint.”
As the restrictions eased, in-person shopping returned, and some of the clothing stores played to their strengths.
“I think our little retail shops are singularly poised to deal with the pandemic because they can regulate how many people are coming in, and it’s you’re not in with masses, you’re in with one other person who could be at the other end of the store,” she said.
Wahl Kunzier recalled that Tony Laguda Formal Wear and Jackets N’ Things offer alterations. She added the formalwear store also “came up with a casual line for men,” and Jackets N’ Things is “continuing to work with the schools.”
Other establishments planned to focus on holidays.
The owners of Ambler Flower Shop, From The Boot, Jackets N’ Things, and Xtra 101 teamed up to offer a “one stop shopping package deal” for Valentine’s Day that included flowers, dinner, masks, and a gift, Wahl Kunzier said.
Sweet Annie’s Candy
Shoppe and SweetBriar Cafe have some ideas for Easter. Wahl Kunzier said the restaurant, located on Lindenwold Avenue, is planning a scavenger hunt and hiding “little Easter bunnies around town,” and winners will be able to “claim” a “prize” at a “participating store.”
The Kiwanis Club of Ambler is organizing an event where the Easter Bunny will ride on a fire truck and pass out candy to children throughout the borough.
“It’s those little things, and people thinking independently, but working as a team that really has pulled us through as a community I think,” she said.
In the meantime, Wahl Kunzier is “trying to spruce the town up.” She bought flowers, flags and some “extra [fairy] lights” lining Butler Avenue “to have it appear to be more lively.”
“I think the theme to this thing is we’re all in this together. Everybody’s in the same boat and we all want each other to survive,” she said. “There’s no competition, it’s just everybody trying to support each other.”
While the COVID-19 pandemic has tested the downtown borough’s resolve, Wahl Kunzier said the revival of two mainstays, the Ambler Theater and Act II Playhouse, would be a tangible sign that things are truly getting back to normal .
“I think when that comes back to life everyone will give a big exhale, because those two, they’re really kingpins in town,” she said. “Everyone comes here for the theater and for Act II. So I feel like once they finally come back out of the darkness, it’ll feel like it’s over, or at least it’s manageably over.”