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38103 Shopping Spree
I went to a meeting with the Center City Commission this morning at Isaac Hayes restaurant. The topic of discussion was retailing and how the CCC will be marketing retailers during this holiday season and beyond. The showing was small but enthusiastic and, for the most part, very positive and forward-thinking. Lee Warren and the lovely ladies of the CCC, Leslie, Tiffany, Nicole and Stephanie put on a 
good program and walked us through the Destination Downtown newsletter and how it will be expanded this season, as well as a new TV commercial to begin being aired very soon. The commercial was shot by local indie director Mike McCarthy, who once shot a few scenes for a film in the basement of the Tobacco Bowl and managed to bust a water pipe, almost flooding said basement. His commercial is catchy and colorful and features several items that can be found downtown, although, noticeably absent is the beautiful Mastro de Paja pipe I leant for the shoot. The Downtown Destination newsletter, in addition to going out online, will also be printed and distributed by the thousands.
The annual Downtown Holiday Parade will take place on Saturday, December 10, at 4 p.m. on Beale Street. The event's sponsor this year is Bank of America and they're looking for individual businesses to sponsor floats for $2500 a pop, which seems a bit pricey for a parade that lasts two blocks. But it will be a fun time for the kids and that's really all that matters.
The idea the CCC came up with that I'm most excited about is Downtown Shopping Saturdays. Six years ago when I decided the Tobacco Bowl needed to be open on Saturdays, instead of its Mon-Fri routine, to allow folks from East Memphis and the surrounding communities a chance to come in and shop, it was an uphill battle, but through time and patience it's made Saturdays one of the better business days of the week. Since then I've been hoping other businesses, in their Mon-Fri rut, would make an effort to stay open that sixth day so that there would be more to draw shoppers down. Every Saturday, beginning Nov. 26, the CCC will host events in Handy Park such as carolers, drawings and photos with Santa, as well as shuttles being offered by Ride the Ducks to different retail establishments downtown. This will be a great way to spend the day with family, see all of downtown and get some holiday shopping done!
A big thanks again to the Center City Commission for hosting this meeting and for working with the true retailers who are fighting the good fight downtown. There was talk, not just about the next month and a half, but also of the future and possibly getting more retailers together regularly to talk about issues that affect us. For more on what's going on downtown, visit the CCC website.
Posted by Richard Alley at November 15, 2005 02:09 PM
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