BRATTLEBORO — The studies have spurred the urban planning experts to declare Brattleboro's downtown “vibrant” and worthy of Main Street envy.
But does “vibrant” translate into financially sustainable or unique?
And with winter holiday events and gift-giving around the corner, many locals are making their lists while checking their checkbooks twice.
Representatives from Building a Better Brattleboro (BaBB) and the Brattleboro Area Chamber of Commerce believe that downtown Brattleboro possesses a vibrant mixture of unique, affordable items for everyone on every shopper's list, and the two organizations are promoting local businesses with that message.
At the Dec. 2 Gallery Walk, BaBB and the Chamber will launch Keep it Here this Year, a promotion to encourage people to shop locally this season. The promotion will complement the town's annual December Fest.
The promotion will include special discounts.
And gingerbread.
BaBB Executive Director Andrea Livermore said that community members have taken up the task of creating gingerbread versions of local historic buildings. Zephyr Designs will display these buildings.
A traveling gingerbread man will be the cornerstone of the Keep it Here this Year promotion.
According to Livermore, every day visitors to downtown can find a special offer in the particular store displaying the two-foot-high wooden gingerbread man holding a mini-banner reading, “Catch me if you can.”
Organizers will also develop a holiday gift list offering ideas for “everyone in every price range,” said Livermore.
Livermore said she hopes the promotion will help “dispel the myth that there's not a reason for area people to come downtown.”
The reality is that downtown businesses offer diverse items in all price ranges and that shoppers can find something for almost everyone on their lists, she said.
Also, said Livermore, there's plenty of parking.
A 'special statement'
According to ShopLocally, a California-based website that advocates supporting local economies, 68 percent of “every dollar spent locally stays local.”
Livermore agrees with the economic importance of shopping locally, but adds that it also supports independent business owners providing unique goods and services.
Gifts from these businesses can make a personal and “special statement,” she said.
Local businesses also provide customer service, conversations, and advice that the stereotypical “big box store” doesn't always offer, she said.
“[Shopping at local businesses provides] an experience of community life that you don't always get outside the area,” she said.
Livermore remembers a time when downtown Brattleboro had 30 empty storefronts.
Merchants banded together to fill the storefronts for the holidays, she remembers. That year, Livermore decided to do her holiday shopping downtown.
During her lunch and shopping breaks, she ran into people she knew. According to Livermore, she spent as much time catching up with friends as shopping.
“And isn't spending time with friends part of the holidays?” she said.
According to BaBB, the holiday season kicks off on Friday, Dec. 2. with Gallery Walk, featuring the tree lighting in Pliny Park and caroling. Santa and the Gingerbread Man will likely make an appearance.
That evening also offers a Kids Crafts Fair in the River Garden featuring gifts made locally.
The Holly Days Holly Nights Chamber shopping event runs from Dec. 2 through Dec. 4.
The New England Youth Theatre will offer a preview of its production of A Christmas Carol on Dec. 3, with shows Dec. 8-11 and again from Dec. 15-18.
The 41st Annual Community Messiah Sing, A Fundraiser for the Homeless, features 250 to 300 community voices joining organist, trumpeter, conductor, and vocal soloists to sing the Christmas choruses or just listen to Handel's masterpiece. The sing takes place Dec. 3 at the Centre Congregational Church, 93 Main St.
For more information and other events and promotions, visit BaBB or the Chamber online.