Complaining about parking in my opinion is an excuse used for not shopping downtown by people who feel vaguely guilty about not supporting local businesses. It's an issue high up on the agenda of merchants, but not really very significant to the customers compared to other issues, like what kinds of stores are downtown, what their hours are, and what there is to do otherwise.
Mansfield needs a couple more downtown restaurants to make it a mealtime destination.
We need more browsing shops (like more bookstores, or an army surplus store, or antique shops). And we need to capitalize on the Carrousel, Central Park, Rennaiscance Theater, North Main Street shops, in advertising outside our local area! Local people do not spend money downtown to any significant degree from my experience. At least in my bookshop this is true. It's out of town visitors who bring armfulls of books to the counter and gush about what a great store it is. And they are also just as likely to gush about how cheap the parking is! Local people tell me they just can't spend much time in a shop like mine or they would buy too much, or they have to come back when they have more time, and walk out the door empty handed.
I think this is true everywhere. If you're in you're own town, you don't have the urge to buy on impulse because you can come back any day you feel like and buy what you just saw in the shop. Or you can go look for the item on eBay and if you don't find it at a better price, come back later for it. The other factor is the monkey see monkey do effect. If the shop is crowded and people bringing things to the counter to purchase, it's more likely other people in the shop will spend some money also. Extend this theory to downtown, outoftowners making purchases would stimulate the MSMD effect with local people who happen downtown.
So the bottom line is that local advertising is wasted unless it's targetted to your specialized customer base. Cooperative advertising by groups of merchants or promotions by the city have to be directed to bringing in the tourists, not wasted on local shoppers.
Mansfield needs a couple more downtown restaurants to make it a mealtime destination.
We need more browsing shops (like more bookstores, or an army surplus store, or antique shops). And we need to capitalize on the Carrousel, Central Park, Rennaiscance Theater, North Main Street shops, in advertising outside our local area! Local people do not spend money downtown to any significant degree from my experience. At least in my bookshop this is true. It's out of town visitors who bring armfulls of books to the counter and gush about what a great store it is. And they are also just as likely to gush about how cheap the parking is! Local people tell me they just can't spend much time in a shop like mine or they would buy too much, or they have to come back when they have more time, and walk out the door empty handed.
I think this is true everywhere. If you're in you're own town, you don't have the urge to buy on impulse because you can come back any day you feel like and buy what you just saw in the shop. Or you can go look for the item on eBay and if you don't find it at a better price, come back later for it. The other factor is the monkey see monkey do effect. If the shop is crowded and people bringing things to the counter to purchase, it's more likely other people in the shop will spend some money also. Extend this theory to downtown, outoftowners making purchases would stimulate the MSMD effect with local people who happen downtown.
So the bottom line is that local advertising is wasted unless it's targetted to your specialized customer base. Cooperative advertising by groups of merchants or promotions by the city have to be directed to bringing in the tourists, not wasted on local shoppers.
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