With the renovations at Naples and BluePlate, the business association expects to see more people come downtown.
By KRYSTAL NURSE
The Sun
The Mullica Hill Business Association is looking generate more pedestrian traffic downtown as the weather gets nicer to help the historical district grow.
“The key to bringing businesses, people and increasing the volume is restaurants,” said association president David Tinney. “Naples is in the final stretch of their new sports bar and ristorante opening up. They have a liquor license and they’re making a huge investment in town. It’ll be beyond the success they’re expecting.”
The addition will be the only form of nightlife in Harrison Township, which Tinney added will be a complement to the historic district and will help pull more visitors to the area. However, he said while the addition is occurring, the business association, in conjunction with the historic preservation and society, remains focused on keeping up with the historic charm throughout town.
“It’s a win-win situation when you can maintain the exterior appearance such as no neon lights, or if you’re going to do renovations, have wood columns or decks to maintain the look and feel of 18th, 19th and 20th century Mullica Hill,” he said.
Tinney added events like the Feb. 9 Chocolate Walk occur throughout the year to help draw crowds to Main Street and allow businesses to connect with residents.
“Now, we’re focusing on the antique street fair on April 20, the arts and crafts festival on May 11, the festival of antiques on June 8, which is put on by the Yellow Garage at the 4-H Fairgrounds, and we also have Harrison Township Day on May 4, which has a street shut down,” he said. Other events are planned for the year beyond June, however none have been confirmed.
While the events draw crowds, he said the biggest struggle the association has faced in recent years is many people choose to shop online for their goods due to convenience, but for those needing something tangible, they should stop into any store to touch and learn about a particular object. The association, he added, tries to combat that by utilizing Small Business Saturday — a nationwide shopping holiday the Saturday following Thanksgiving sponsored by American Express — and encouraging people to shop local year round.
“It’s a difficult task to match free shipping and prices online when you buy in bulk, but you can’t beat these little shops in town,” he said.
While Swedesboro, Woodbury, Pitman and many other towns have their own downtowns, Tinney doesn’t see it as competition because “no one has exclusive rights to anything.” He added the group puts on all events to their abilities to get people downtown and doesn’t worry much about if Pitman has a chocolate event — which they did this year — or if Glassboro has a food truck festival.
Tinney said the association is looking into creating specialty nights where women, couples, kids, seniors and any other age group will be asked to come, but nothing’s been planned yet.
“I enjoy living here and the freedom you have being in a small town,” said Tinney. “I grew up in Philadelphia and you want businesses to come into town. You want the hustle and bustle, but at the same time you want it to be quiet and peacefulness.”
