It's a novel idea for civic boosters to admit that a town has a surplus of empty shops, but doing so has paid off for a New Jersey municipality.
It frequently has been said that the first step to overcoming a problem is to admit that you have a problem.
Most often, the phrase is associated with drug and alcohol self-help programs. It also can apply to broader pursuits like business difficulties or having trouble mastering educational concepts. Yet, there's one place where problems is are too rarely acknowledged: our downtrodden downtown commercial districts.
You'd expect folks who hang on and operate stores along down-at-their heels main drags to display optimism about their location. We need involved owners who talk up their towns. It's what civic business groups and chambers of commerce thrive upon. So, why mention anything but the modest successes, even when they're strongly outnumbered by vacancies, in trying to attract stores and offices to fill empty spaces?
Well, for one thing, putting a too-sunny tint on the current viability of a business district can gloss over the need for active solutions. This fosters complacency, as well an unrealistic view from the surrounding community that everything is OK.
Main Street Vineland has a contrary notion that involves lifting the rose-colored-glasses a little. On April 6, the group is hosting what it plainly describes as a vacancy tour for real-estate brokers and business developers. After lunch and a description of an improved future for Landis Avenue, those assembled will be shuttled around to inspect the boarded-up storefronts.
In other words, the group's leaders are not shying away from the fact that there are multiple vacancies. More than a dozen properties will be showcased.
Main Street Vineland hosted a similar tour a year ago, and organizers say it paid off. Several of the properties that were shown in 2015 have since been leased.
We can think of other small downtowns that are not in as good a shape as Vineland's, and wonder why local governments and civic groups haven't taken a similar tack. Yes, Woodbury, Salem, Paulsboro, Penns Grove and Bridgeton, we're talking about you. For sure, professionals and service groups in these towns keep trying to quietly attract replacement businesses. Sometimes, though, you have to go big to be noticed.
Vacancy tours don't have to dwell on the negative. In Vineland, Main Street has developed a fact sheet about each property, with information about incentives that qualified newcomers can tap. Think of it as the commercial version of "staging" to show off a residential property for maximum interest. This has become a cottage (pun intended) industry for marketing homes.
Thanks to Main Street Vineland, as well as tour sponsors Foundation Title LLC and Frank Conroy's Farmers Insurance office, for an idea that is working well. If you can get budding entrepreneurs to take a look, then say to themselves, "I can imagine my shop in this space," the battle is on the way to being won.