Downtown businesses promote image with
advertising campaign
October 3, 2008
Jamie Busen
Members of the Historic
Quincy Business District’s marketing committee are planning a fourth-quarter
advertising package to help boost sales.
Celia Neff, owner of
Celia’s Gifts and More at 117 N. Fourth, said nearly
50 downtown businesses are involved.
“It’s an image
campaign,” Neff said. “We’re advertising the downtown district area. We are
alive and growing, and that is our intent with it. You have to promote your own
business.”
Fifteen-second TV
commercials have already started, and radio and newspaper ads will follow. Neff
said the committee put together the campaign and worked with local advertisers on
a package price.
The HQBD, which has
been without an executive director since Karol Ehmen
resigned in March, received money from the Great River Economic Development
Foundation and the city of
Charla Snowden, owner of Designer’s
Again in the
“One reason alone is
the affordability,” she said. “That makes a big difference. It’s getting more
and more difficult to advertise, it’s so expensive. You are doing less
advertising when you need it the most.”
While she realizes the
commercials won’t spend a lot of time on each individual store, getting the
word out about the HQBD during the biggest retail quarter of the season is important.
“When a store closes
near me, that’s less business for me,” Snowden said. “Times
are a lot tighter for everyone. People not might want to travel for one item.
But I really don’t think people realize how many stores are down here and all the
different types of stores we have.”
Neff said this is about
getting shoppers to
“It I was the only
store downtown, nobody would come,” she said. “If you don’t get people to come
to the downtown, nobody is going to buy anything. We want people to know about
us.”
On the Web: www.downtownquincy.com