This post is going to be about how to revitalize your small town downtown. However we could sum the whole post up in five words...Find yourself a Vivian Howard.
When we were younger and moving from small town to small town we noticed a trend in the restaurant business that was repeated from town to town. In Jacksonville NC there was a steak house in New River Shopping Center where many movers and shakers gathered for supper. In Clinton NC there was a Fussell's Steakhouse where many gathered to meet and greet. In Lumberton there was a place called John's Restaurant where the upper crust gathered to talk and discuss the local scene. In Fayetteville the place was Chris Steak House right outside the gates of the local country club. I could go on, but I think you get the picture here, in that some place generally a restaurant was the gathering place for locals and frankly many non locals to come and mingle. What many did not notice, but our being a marketing type person did, was that the retailers close by these establishments prospered as well. Those consumers drawn would shop close by while in town and especially near the gathering place. Now this is not marketing genius this is just the fact that people who know each other many times like to dine together and visit and a smart restaurant manager takes advantage of such by making their place the go to spot and making inside comfortable and appealing for those who wanted to socially visit.
So human nature does not change, it does adapt to the times and to the offerings to come and be together. Kinston NC got lucky or some might think smart in Vivian Howard coming home and starting a restaurant in their downtown. A downtown that in the 1960's was known as the Magic Mile and just a few years ago well not so magic anymore. Nothing different in that most small town downtowns have lost their relevance and draw due to many retailers moving to more modern buildings, better parking for customers, and of course nearer my Walmart to thee. Walmart brings traffic and smart retailers and yes restaurants have learned how to feed off that traffic. In Kinston's downtown we find The Chef and Farmer, Vivian Howard's restaurant has drawn traffic and like a Walmart has led a exodus back into that downtown to take advantage of the new traffic flow. For instance, Mother Earth Brewery, a hotel inside an old bank, a pub, a pizzeria, and this one is sweet a remodeled motel/motor court called Mother Earth Motor Lodge. Go check the motel out online it is one cool joint. Those already in downtown have prospered as well including several clothing merchants.
Simply put if you have a small town with a downtown go find yourself a Vivian Howard or at least the closest thing to such you can get. Now Ms. Howard not only has shown smarts in developing her restaurant and using her talents to prosper she used numerous long known contacts to leverage her opportunities. The best contact by far is her long friendship with Cynthia Hill a talented film maker from southern Lenior County where Vivian Howard also grew up. Together their TV show A Chef's Life has been a money maker for everyone concerned, not to mention those who have saddled up close to the restaurant in Kinston. Now we find several aspects here that make for finding your own Vivian Howard. One is well someone who thinks opportunity and not necessarily motivated by profits but the joy of success, next is someone who has emotional ties to the community, and last someone with contacts that they can leverage. Your local entrepreneur, or entrepreneurs, will likely not be as successful as Ms. Howard since frankly as they say she was in the right place at the right time. But they do not have to be such, only be a draw to your downtown or maybe even a series of draws to downtown. Several locally owned non chain independently owned restaurants, a local brewery or two, a sweet shop that cooks donuts, candy, or pastries, and a town government that finds ways to help these businesses prosper like some close by parking lots and helps with incentives. Now tax incentives are nice, but what we are looking at here is serious help something like government buying a vacant building, finding someone to set up shop in it, and offering to make the deal so they can survive long enough to prosper. Consider inviting a brewery to your downtown as an example.
The best part of this happening in your town is that is draws in the wealthier consumer who not only spend at the upscale dining establishment, but has money to spend with the merchants nearby. Wealth does wonders for small communities and despite all the banter about hating the so called rich we have found ourselves that living in wealth stimulated communities raises the quality of living for everyone around. Wealth buys nicer homes, wealth spends freely, and wealth brings in nicer merchants. Also understand wealth is attracted to pro growth policies, government that pushes for a higher quality of living, government that makes changes to accommodate better housing and not just housing for property tax collection, government that uses some revenues to enhance the opportunities for local merchants to come in and thrive. A local government that thinks opportunity and not government with their revenues.
There are several towns in Eastern NC besides Kinston where we see this downtown improvement happening. Swansboro NC once frankly a dump of a downtown has every shop full, historical buildings here have been redone, and there are maybe a half dozen restaurants and a brewery all within and two block walking distance. Elizabethtown NC has a markee restaurant called Melvins and most of the local stores are doing well even with a newer Walmart shopping center in town, Wilson NC seems to have gotten the clue and of late I see their downtown returning to some former glory, Jacksonville NC has a new eatery called Biagios and I am expecting to see some development there soon, Clayton NC is using their new status as a high earning young people draw to revitalize their downtown. So yes it can be done but there needs to be someone who takes the reins and leverages the place past just another downtown. So as this posting started if you want your downtown to grow go find yourself a Vivian Howard and get going.
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