DDP Merchant Committee Packet

Merchants Committee Meeting AGENDA Thursday, February 13, 2020 8:30-9:30 a.m. BNL - The Brunch n Lunch - 212 S Governors Ave. • Welcome • Volunteer to record minutes • Public Comments • Minutes (January) • February Window Contest outcome and discuss April’s theme • Feedback on Shop Downtown Dover! promotional piece; next steps (pdf/2021) • First Friday March • Next Mixer date / location • Opportunities and Workplan FY - 2021 • September 21-23 Fam Tour • Summer bus tours to shop Downtown • New Business Next Meeting Date: March 12 Location: To be determined The Merchants Committee supports a sustainable business community through business communication, networking support and promotional activities to enhance and grow the downtown Business Improvement District.

Merchant Committee Meeting Minutes January 9, 2020 The Delaware Store DRAFT Attendees: Tom Smith, Lori Llewellyn, Dina Vendetti, Josie Azhar, Diane Laird December Minutes: approved unanimously Public Comments: N/A Feedback: • Holiday sales: Josie indicated very good; Lori’s sales were very good; Dina believed that there were more people downtown than previous years; Tom’s sales were down. • Promotional passport Josie, Tom and Lori indicated very little response with the promo books. • June timeframe consider the Downtown Discount Card • First Friday in Jan.: DE Store had good crowd, not a shopping crowd, but good for exposure and socializing. Lori did not have customers. We should check with Kristin at House of Coffi. • Small Town Series: People generally very pleased with the outcome. Can be promoted more, especially individually by merchants that purchased a portion. Possibly more storefronts of shops could be edited into video. • Social media presentation at Dec. meeting: Lori will reach out to Aaron Davis for assessment of My Roots’ social media. Difficulty measuring outcome is always a challenge. Lori posts individual items. Window Decorating contest • There was lot of feedback about the beauty of downtown holiday lighting…people loved it! • Feb. any holiday Superbowl, groundhog, Valentine’s day Presidents, Black History Month, and any other merchants would like to celebrate. • $100 will be offered for Feb., as with other. Chamber will do the judging on the 4th of Feb. in early evening, so merchants have windows decorated, with lights on, by noon on Feb. 4. The Design committee did the December judging, as is always done. 28th entry form is due by Monday Jan. 20th. Other business: • For the Green area merchants, the summer visitors (many by bus) generally don’t have negative feelings about the downtown (parking, safety, etc.) and they could be a population to grow into downtown. The September KCT Fam. Tour will also be an opportunity for 40 minute stop. Add these two items to next month’s agenda. • Resource Guide by Chamber has been extended to end of January and they’d like to promote downtown Dover with a special section. Chamber website gets 45,000 hits per month. Share this with other merchants. 9:40 Adjourn Merchant Meeting After the meeting, Kari Ebert poet, provided information about Poetry Month (April) and possible theme for First Friday in April. Interactive opportunities in stores, and invite local poets to read, as well. Kari’s theme is Connections: Enlarging the Field of Vision. See attached handout. Further discussion at First Friday meeting. Next Meeting Date: Thursday Jan. 9, 2019 - location to be determined. DL DDP MERCHANT COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES