Smart marketing key for a vibrant, healthy downtown Cobourg

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• Jeanne Beneteau
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• Nov 02, 2012 – 4:30 AM
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Public encouraged to contribute energy, ideas for downtown vitalization

COBOURG — When Theresa Rickerby gazes out her downtown Cobourg storefront window, she sees an amazing place to set up shop.

Ms. Rickerby, owner of King Street’s ‘All Creatures Great and Small’, has operated in the downtown for the past 13 years. Although she said she has seen businesses come and go, the ones that survive and thrive are those that have pegged their niche markets, provided supreme and knowledgeable customer service and became involved in community activities or events.

«There’s such a good sense of community among the downtown businesses and I love the proximity to the park, the beach and the tourists these attract,» she said. «We’re located in a beautiful historical building with a great landlord, we have large display windows and excellent parking for our customers.»

The long-time downtown merchant said she’s hopeful the Downtown Vitalization Project will help support and strengthen downtown merchants and their businesses through marketing promotions and perhaps tax incentives for heritage building upkeep and preservation.

Ms. Rickerby was among 250 residents who packed the Park Theatre Oct. 25 to mark the launch of Cobourg’s Downtown Vitalization Project. The launch featured guest speakers such as local historian, Robert Michael, who looked at the downtown area as it was in the past and Andrew Hall, Cobourg’s Downtown Business Improvement Area (DBIA coordinator, who examined the downtown as it is today. Other speakers included Matt Campbell, who discussed existing and burgeoning Internet technologies and James Drennan, of Fleming College, who talked about training for jobs of the future.

Cobourg’s business development officer Kevin Narraway is the coordinator of the charge to breathe new life in the town’s downtown core. At the project launch, people posted suggestions to improve the downtown on a vision wall – a map of the area which extends east to west from Spring Street to College Street and north to south from Orange Street to the marina. Suggestions included: tax break incentives for owners to restore heritage businesses; have businesses stay open later during the week and open on Sundays consistently; second level parking, perhaps underground, at the Covert Street lot; and a more diverse selection of retailers such as a children’s store, a green grocer, a wine store and a hardware store, as examples.

Mr. Hall, the DBIA coordinator, noted the downtown has 230 registered, active businesses that employ 1,300 people in an area of less than one square kilometre.

He told the gallery the DBIA recently hosted a half-day visitors’ walkabout of the downtown core. The visitors rated the downtown on a variety of features, he explained.

«Their comments – Cobourg’s downtown is clean, well-kept, youthful, beautiful and lively. What naysayers see is flaking paint and declare our downtown is dying,» said Mr. Hall. «We need to take stock of our assets and the naysayers need to give their heads a shake.»

Mr. Narraway explained Cobourg’s downtown vitalization project is based on a defined process put together by the Ontario Ministry of Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA.

«The plan is not all about cans of paint or new facades, although a spruce up may be a small part,» said Mr. Narraway. «Rather, it’s developing a vision statement, that is, what do we want the downtown to be, then putting together a plan to market the area to tie in with its assets.»

Next steps in the process include: nailing down a vision statement for downtown Cobourg, expected shortly; a customer origin survey in the downtown from Nov. 12 to 19; an online residence survey tool, which will be launched in January; and finally, a business retention and expansion survey of the area’s 230-plus businesses, also planned for January.

«During the customer survey, volunteers will stop people on the street to find out what they’re shopping for and what they like or don’t like about shopping downtown and how the experience can be improved,» said Mr. Narraway. «We’ll also be collecting postal codes to find out where the shoppers are coming from.»

Mr. Narraway encouraged everyone with a real passion for downtown Cobourg to get involved with the process.

«The more businesses and residents to get involved, the more successful the plan to build a sustainable downtown core for future generations will be,» said the business development officer.

For more information or to get involved, contact Kevin Narraway at 289-251-0040, e-mail knarraway@cobourg.ca; or drop into the Business and Tourism Centre, 278 George St., Cobourg.

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