There are countless decisions that Main Streets have to make throughout the year such as should we continue doing an event or how do we communicate the impact that this event has on the community and its businesses. Analyzing the effectiveness and impact of an event can be tricky because it requires the right data for Main Street’s board and staff to make informed decisions. Downtown Lee’s Summit Main Street utilized geofencing to garner valuable data on the attendees of their largest event as their free technical service through Missouri Main Street Connection available to Accredited Main Street programs in Missouri.

Geofencing uses GPS or RFID technology to create a virtual geographic boundary enabling software to collect data when a mobile device enters or leaves a particular area.  Since geofencing is coming from cellphone data, it does not register anyone that is not carrying a cellphone or has GPS location services off.  In Main Street applications, geofencing is used to create a boundary around the Main Street district or specific area of downtown to gather information about those visiting the district. This is a technological upgrade from zip code surveys where Main Street businesses and Main Street event volunteers ask visitors for their zip codes in order to track where visitors are from. Geofencing now allows this to be done in the background.  While geofencing registers mobile devices that enter or leave the selected area, it only denotes general information from the mobile device, but not any identifying data. Instead demographic information is viewed from primary trade areas that represent areas where a significant number of attendees visited from. 

Missouri Main Street Connection worked with Downtown Lee’s Summit Main Street to gather demographic information with a third-party company on those that attended one of their largest events, Downtown Days.  This is a three-day event that the Main Street leadership believed attracted thousands of attendees, however they never had a good way to measure if it was true.  They also thought they knew what cities many of the attendees were from, but it was only a guess. Through the use of geofencing they would have solid data to turn there guesses into an understanding of the demographic profile of those in attendance and to measure the number of attendees to better measure the impact of this event.

The third-party company collected the information from a map and boundary of the festival grounds that they determined with Downtown Lee’s Summit Main Street.  The company also collected data from the weekend following the festival from the determined boundary to include in the data set to compare to a standard three-day period for reference. 

From the data collected during Downtown Lee’s Summit Main Street’s Downtown Days, almost 65,000 people attended the festival. The geofencing company used the criterion “register devices that have remained in the geofenced area for seven or more minutes” to ensure that the data collected was an accurate reflection of event attendance and not simply people driving through the map. Below is a heat map showing where people gathered within the festival grounds once they entered the festival. 

The map below is a visual reorientation of the data collected based on attendee’s location of origin that shows the Downtown Days event draws people from as far away as Colorado, Illinois, Ohio, and Nebraska. St. Louis, Des Moines, and Springfield were three metro areas that also showed a high volume of attendees that originated from there.   Of course, most of the attendees were from the Kansas City metro area. This information will help determine marketing and advertising for the event in future years. 

The two charts below showed what times garnered the most traffic and how long people stayed within the festival grounds, which was on average 116 minutes.  

The data goes on to share demographic and market information for the typical attendee based upon where they are from.  This information provides an insight into the spending habits and purchasing power of this group.  The data dives into median household size, household income, age, gender, and race/ethnicity.  All the information that was provided through this geofencing technical service will provide a guide for Downtown Lee’s Summit Main Street to better understand the attendees for their event, help determine future programming and advertising for the event, inform vendors about traffic counts that allow them to stock enough product, and to manage public safety procedures for the crowd size. 

If you are interested in geofencing your Main Street district or festival grounds, please reach out to Keith Winge, Missouri Main Street Connection’s State Community Development Director for more information.  

Through “$1 Billion and Rising” Missouri Main Street Connection (MMSC) has featured completed projects across Missouri. These projects have won awards at Missouri’s Premier Downtown Revitalization Conference, been recorded in Missouri Main Street communities’ quarterly economic data submitted to MMSC, developed into reports by the local programs to showcase their impact, and transformed their downtown in numerous ways from their local economies to downtown offerings. Now to conclude “$1 Billion and Rising,” we will focus on the rising future Missouri Main Street sees in our communities as they continue to champion their Main Streets from the old historic buildings to the businesses that inhabit them and people who live in and visit downtown.

Elevate 114 is an ongoing large-scale housing development that is located at 114 NE Douglas St. in Lee’s Summit, Missouri. This property spans a full city block encompassing four acres, which became vacant after the Methodist church moved to another site a few miles away about five years ago. Ryan Adams, Vice President of Cityscape Residential and lead on this development remarked, “[We saw this] as an opportunity to bring some class A, upper-end apartments to the downtown Lee’s Summit area.” To put it into context, Donnie Rodgers, Executive Director of Downtown Lee’s Summit Main Street remarked on the impact of this project coming to Lee’s Summit as, “[ending] a decade long drought of new apartment development.” While many would see new housing coming downtown as a good thing since more people living in an area will raise the tax base and grow the economy, there was some initial hesitancy in the community that took partnerships and rallying community members to make this happen. This community collaboration with Cityscape and Elevate 114 representative is what forged the community buy-in and garnered the city’s approval as Adams adds:

“The retailer association and downtown business owners were hugely supportive… [and] we met with Donnie and his group early on… and [were] involved in our city planning commission and zoning meetings. It’s a great relationship. One of the best experiences with Main Street because of the level of vested interest from all the local owners.”

While the development is in the middle of construction, the effort the community put in to support bringing this development to Downtown Lee’s Summit is starting to see its returns as Elevate 114 is already welcoming residents into downtown with the completed apartments buildings. The renovated church houses the leasing office and amenities which add to the uniqueness of this property and draws tenants in as construction work continues on the rest of the apartment buildings. There are major benefits to having a growth in population downtown as Rodgers adds:

“The new residents bring a breath of fresh air… they are at the farmers market and walking their dogs down 3^rd Street. It’s just great to have. We estimate that the new residents will generate an additional $5 million in taxable revenue for the district.”

The returns to the community are no accident. This is the economic outcome from a community coming together to support the development of housing, which had been identified as a need in the community. Coupled with the natural economic outcome of more residents living downtown, which at this point has increased by 400 according to estimates by Downtown Lee’s Summit, Elevate 114 has a commitment to the community. Craig Ladines, the Property Manager of Elevate 114 shared, “This is our community. One of [our] main goals in being involved in the neighborhood is to collaborate with local businesses and thank them for the support they have shown us.” This symbiotic relationship between development and downtown is exactly how sustainable development is supposed to go. As the Main Street district grows and strengthens, there becomes more vibrant and attractive places for development and as development comes to Main Street, there are more resources, both financially and with increased residents, to strengthen the community, district, and organization. Ridgers adds to this sentiment by stating, “This has proven downtown as a vibrant place [and shows that Elevate 114] saw the strength we had here in downtown Lee’s Summit with our restaurants and retail and knew this was a community ripe and ready.”

This development wasn’t recorded in Downtown Lee’s Summit quarterly data submitted before the end of 2020 which resulted in MMSC’s network of local Main Street communities reporting $1 billion in public and private investment raised in 15 years, but has started to be reported as the project is nearing its completion. Projects are reported in economic data submissions to MMSC during the quarter when the project has been completed, with multi stage projects like this development reporting data each quarter a stage is completed. The gravity of this development is summed up by Rodgers as, “upon the completion of the project the over $50 million investment… [will be] the largest single private investment we have seen in downtown.”  

Local Missouri Main Street communities will continue to see development and investment in their downtown further contributing to “$1 Billion & Rising.”

The winter holiday season can be full of family and community traditions. Families around Missouri partake in amazing activities that are a part of their holiday celebration and form memories for everyone old and young. Communities like Lee’s Summit deck out their downtown with lights throughout the district but especially their downtown Howard Station Park. Every year it is covered with candy canes hanging along the fence.

Downtown Lee’s Summit has nominated Nate Moore and Boy Scout Troop 1264 for ‘I Spy… Great Work’. This nomination enters Nate Moore and Boy Scout Troop 1264 for Volunteer of the Year at the 2022 Missouri’s Premier Downtown Revitalization Conference in August. The nomination from Downtown Lee’s Summit Main Street was submitted by Donnie Rodgers:

“The candy canes along the fence in Howard Station Park have been a part of the holiday tradition in Downtown Lee’s Summit for nearly 30 years and would not be possible without Boy Scout Troop 1264. We want to wish a special thank you to Nate Moore and Boy Scout Troop 1264 for keeping a downtown tradition alive for years to come. As part of Nate’s Eagle Scout project this year, he restored and built additional candy canes to hang. These candy canes have been maintained by Boy Scout Troop 1264 and were part of prior Eagle Scout projects.”

Missouri Main Street Connection is happy to see youth in a community take ownership of their downtown’s traditions and find ways to enhance them. Traditions are an important binder as they connect us all by shared memories formed from the tradition and it is important to pass them to the next generation. This allows them to take that tradition and add their unique perspective to it. When people are allowed to participate in the perpetuity of a tradition it brings vitality and strength to have it withstand time in a meaningful way.

If you see individuals in your community that are completing great work contact your local Main Street program and recommend them to be nominated for ‘I Spy… Great Work’. Anyone who has volunteered and gone above and beyond, donated something spectacular, or is a hear warming volunteer story is applicable for ‘I Spy... Great Work’. A local Main Street Board can submit approved submissions through the website. 

May is Preservation Month, the annual celebration of history, culture, and special places, designed to raise awareness about the power that historic preservation has to protect and enhance our historic communities. It’s the celebration of places that are meaningful to us. It is the telling of stories of the places we can’t live without.

In many Missouri communities, the old and new live side by side. Historic buildings not only give a community character but also emphasize sustainability. The preservation of unique neighborhoods containing historic landmarks ignites economic development and enriches communities. From first dates to family dinners and shopping trips to nights on the town, America’s thriving historic main streets are where we come together and share experiences that shape our lives and communities.¹

WE’RE CELEBRATING MISSOURI’S TREASURES

In partnership with the Missouri State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), we are launching the #MoPlacesMatter campaign to raise awareness of Missouri’s historic treasures and their vital role in sustaining local communities. Over select dates in May, our Celebrate Preservation Month Road Show² will visit four historic sites in Missouri dedicated to preserving our state’s historic resources and nine Missouri communities dedicated to preserving and revitalizing their historic districts to further enrich their communities and celebrate their heritage. Our campaign coincides with the #ThisPlaceMatters³ nationwide celebration observed by small towns and big cities with events ranging from architectural scavenger hunts and historic site tours to educational programs and heritage travel opportunities.

Southeast Missouri State University students learning how Historic Preservation and Main Street work together.  

Preservation Month is a great time to learn more about the activities going on around you in your community and state. The Celebrate Preservation Month Road Show is our project to engage the public in preserving historic places and increasing awareness of their role in sustaining local communities. Through the project, we hope to encourage Missouri citizens to learn more about the history surrounding them, discover new sites and communities, and understand the importance of preserving our history and historic places for generations to come. Think about the places in your community that mean the most to you. What are the “must see” or “must experience” places you take visitors from out of town? What places do you think about when you’re away from home and tell other people about your home town? How would your community change if these places were suddenly lost or modified beyond recognition?⁴

WE’RE HITTING THE ROAD TO VISIT THESE PLACES

The following communities and historic sites (selected by popular vote) are stops along the 2018 Celebrate Preservation Month Road Show. You can download the complete schedule here.

Cape Girardeau – Old Town Cape, Inc.

Chillicothe – Main Street Chillicothe

Excelsior Springs – Downtown Excelsior Springs Partnership

Independence – Harry S Truman National Historic Site

Jackson – Uptown Jackson Revitalization Organization

Jefferson City – Missouri Governor’s Mansion

Kansas City – Thomas Hart Benton Home & Studio State Historic Site

Lee’s Summit – Downtown Lee’s Summit Main Street, Inc.

Liberty – Historic Downtown Liberty, Inc.

Mansfield – Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home & Museum

Moberly – Main Street Moberly

Warrensburg – Warrensburg Main Street

Washington – Downtown Washington Inc.

Follow one of the official Celebrate Preservation Month Road Show cars to the places that matter to you! 

In addition to joining us on our Road Show, here are a few more things you can do to participate in Preservation Month⁵:

• Read up on your community’s history.
• Talk to preservationists and learn more about their ideas for your community.
• Find out or review what properties or neighborhoods your community has listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
• Review the web pages of your local main street or downtown revitalization program, regional heritage area, and State Historic Preservation Organization (SHPO).
• Take a tour of a rehabilitated building in your community such as a restored historic theater, historic courthouse or municipal building, or a historic school or commercial building converted to apartments or offices.
• Take a walk around a nearby historic residential area or shop/dine in a historic commercial district.
• Take a field trip to a nearby community with a strong historic preservation ethic or main street program.
• Visit the Preservation Month web pages of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, National Park Service, and National Register of Historic Places.
• Participate in other local Historic Preservation Month activities.

¹Quote by Stephanie Meeks, president and CEO of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

²This activity is partially funded by a grant from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, State Historic Preservation Office, and the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service. Grant awards do not imply an endorsement of contents by the grantor. Federal laws prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, religion, sex, age, handicap or ethnicity. For more information, write to the Office of Equal Opportunity, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington DC 20240.

³#ThisPlaceMatters is the annual campaign created by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

^{4, 5}"Preservation Can Be Inspiring – This Month (and Every Month),” by Amy Faca, May 7, 2013.

Throughout 2016, we have celebrated 10 years of Missouri Main Street Connection. We have accomplished a lot in these first 10 years and hope to have as much success in the next 10! In 2017, we officially kick of the next 10 years of MMSC with some exciting projects.

We began working on the first of these projects in October 2016. Earlier this year we received a grant, from the State Historic Preservation Office to conduct a study on the economic impact of historic preservation initiatives in Missouri. These initiatives include the Missouri Main Street program, SHPO’s Certified Local Government program, and the use of state and federal historic tax credits. We have visited several communities to collect data and stories on their experiences with these initiatives. The study will also examine stats that we have collected over the past 10 years from our Main Street communities. We are very excited to see the results of this study and hope it will be a tool to showcase the impact of Missouri Main Street and other preservation initiatives.

Cape Girardeau visit to study the economic impact of historic preservation initiatives in Missouri.

Another amazing opportunity we are looking forward to in 2017 is partnering with USDA on two different projects. First, through the Rural Business Development Grant (RBDG), we will be able to focus our revitalization efforts in the southeast region of Missouri in order to help those communities establish a revitalization organization. When examining our work with Missouri communities, we noticed that few communities in the Southeast region of Missouri had taken advantage of the assistance we had to offer. We felt that it was important to expand our reach to communities in this area and with assistance from USDA, we will be able to offer communities in this region specialized training and mentoring.

Lee's Summit visit to study the economic impact of historic preservation initiatives in Missouri.

The second great partnership opportunity we are working on with USDA is through the Rural Community Development Initiative (RCDI) grant. This three-year project allows us to provide in-depth training and assistance to 12 communities throughout Missouri. This assistance will help them strengthen and expand their Main Street organizations. We are very excited to work with USDA on both this project and the RBDG project.

Jackson community visit to study the economic impact of historic preservation initiatives in Missouri.

The final project that we are very excited about is partnering with the National Main Street Center to bring the Main Street Now conference to Missouri in 2018! The Main Street Now conference boasts many educational opportunities to learn and connect with Main Street groups throughout the country. Currently we are still working with National Main Street to confirm the details of the 2018 Conference in Kansas City, but are so excited to have the opportunity to showcase the great revitalization work happening throughout Missouri.

And finally, we couldn’t take on all of these exciting new projects without a fresh new look to go with it! With the assistance of Downtown Lee’s Summit Main Street and their local design firm, Fossil Forge, we have a new logo to usher in the next 10 years of Missouri Main Street Connection. Read more about the new logo and the competition we hosted for its design here. 

Missouri Main Street's fresh, new look beginning in 2017!

As you’re reading this the fourth quarter will be upon us.  I know you really don’t want to think about it but you must prepare.  Actually your customers really don’t want to think about the approaching Christmas season either.  Believe it or not you actually have a great deal of control whether this Christmas is a boon or bust to your business.  By starting now there are some things you can do to help you get a jump on your competition and bring shoppers through your doors.

The reason you need to start now is that it takes time for a marketing plan to work and you need to create a plan and work it to have a successful holiday season.  Consider items like extended holiday shopping hours or additional customer loyalty programs to kick-start your sales.

Every small business needs to be preparing for the increase in customers this holiday season.  Word of mouth is still the most effective marketing tool but be aware of social media opportunities.  Social media is exploding and you and your business needs to be ready, willing, and able to meet this challenge.  If you’re not on Facebook for your business, get there soon.  If you don’t have the time or ability, find someone who can help you.  Social media is a great way to identify new customers. If you are taking care of your existing customers, they will bring you additional business.  Your average customer will recruit three other customers during the time they do business with you.  Someone telling someone else about your business is very powerful.  And what makes a customer talk about a business?  Usually the way they were treated in that business.  Here are some ideas that can get you off on the right foot.

Start internally with you and your employees.  I know you think you give good or even great customer service over the course of the year, but this is the time to step it up a notch.  Call customers by name as soon as you know it (it’s on their checks and credit/debit cards); better yet, train your sales people to introduce themselves and meet people.  Point out new items to customers.  Ask when they last shopped with you if you don’t recognize them.  Make them feel at home in your store.  Treat them like honored guests.  Impress them.  If you want to take it up a notch, ask friends and family to secret shop your store.  One word of caution though, don’t do this unless you’re ready to implement some of the suggestions.



Don’t allow your employees to simply point customers toward products; physically take them over to the area they are looking for and give them information about the products and related products they might want to consider.  I’m not talking about high pressure selling techniques or hovering over your customers.  I’m talking about being a great resource and sharing your knowledge to assist them.  Provide that little extra and a feeling that you took your time to give them that personal attention they deserve so they will remember their shopping experience positively.  

Have your very best people answering your phone.  Make sure they demonstrate a smile in their voice each and every time they answer.  Consider positioning a mirror next to each phone.  If you can see your smile in the mirror before you answer the phone, the customer will hear your smile.  This can be where sales and relationships begin for a company.  Remember, they took the time to find your number and call you – they want something.

Invite your best customers in for an exclusive after hour’s party to kick off the holidays.  Pick their brains about what they bought last year.  What items make the best gifts?  Are there products they wish you carried that you don’t?  What price ranges are they looking for?  What is their average Christmas budget?  These people shop too and they are the start of your word of mouth campaign. 

Create subtle in-store displays of gift items.  Don’t bring out the ornaments and trees just yet but give your high margin gift ideas a prominent place where they will be noticed.  Pay special attention to your window displays.  These silent sales people can work for or against you.  Make your displays an invitation to step inside.  They need to become a shopper magnet to boost your bottom line this holiday season.

Traditionally the Christmas buying season starts the day after Thanksgiving, but don’t forget about Small Business Saturday, November 28^th.  This is the day set aside for small businesses to shine.  In 2014 shoppers supported their neighborhood businesses like never before.  An estimated $14.3 billion was spent at small independent businesses on that day last year.  Don’t ever forget that there are also many people who are done by then.  If they see a good gift idea that would be perfect for someone, it goes in the subconscious memory to be retrieved at shopping time.

The next part of your success is advertising in the right place, with the right products, to the right people.  You need to know how to reach your best customers.  Rather than wasting money by throwing your money all over the place and hoping some of it sticks, define your best customer and seek out the appropriate medium to reach them.  Consider joining forces with other stores in your district on shared advertising resulting in more bang for your buck.  During October and the first part of November these will not be Christmas related ads.  You are planting shopping ideas and hints that will be harvested down the road.  Of course, some will buy immediately, some will clip the ad and shop later, and still others will be me… the 3:00 p.m., December 24^th shopper.

The last suggestion has to do with customers that enter your store and purchase a gift certificate/gift card.  Think about this for just a moment.  A customer is in your store and they give you their money.  This purchase has no immediate impact on your inventory and they are giving it away to someone else with their personal recommendation to come back to your business and redeem it.  Make sure they do not leave without something in their hands.  Give them a special gift or some expression of appreciation for being a quality customer and recommending your store to someone else.  Confirm in their minds that you are the type of business they want to send their friends and relatives.

Always remember, if you aren’t preparing for the best holiday season ever, you might find yourself caught in the middle of the worst one ever.

I leave you with two thoughts;

“There is Power in Simple.”

and

“Negative people have a problem for every solution.”

Jim Thompson is a business specialist on the Main Street Iowa team at the Iowa Economic Development Authority.