Main Street El Dorado has entered the new year with optimism and hopes of being more active than in 2020.
Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, MSE was forced to cancel several events last year — which stifled its revenue stream.
The group worked with other organizations, including the Downtown Business Association, corporate sponsors and state and federal agencies, to help maintain the vitality of downtown El Dorado as the virus surged.
MSE and the DBA banded together in 2020 to guide themselves through the COVID-19 crisis and the economic losses that devastated many small businesses across the country.
The groups came up with ideas — including promotional events, drawings and prize giveaways, curbside pickup and delivery services and a virtual tip jar to help service industry workers — to encourage people to continue visiting downtown.
MSE also made sure to assist downtown businesses and others around the city by keeping them abreast of COVID-relief aid in the form of state and federal grants and loans.
Many retail businesses and professional offices took advantage of the assistance.
While a popular downtown business permanently closed its doors — LaBella Gourmet Gifts and Delicatessen — and others relocated from downtown or closed their storefronts to move to online retail sales only, Brumley referenced a promotional campaign that was launched last fall, saying simply, “Downtown is still open.”
And if participation in downtown holiday events is any indication, the 2021 outlook is bright for the city’s Central Business District, she said.
Brumley said the 2020 holiday campaign, “Hometown is Downtown in El Dorado” accomplished its goal of drawing people to the Union Square district to celebrate the holidays and help boost holiday spirits.
With COVID-19 event plans approved by the Arkansas Department of Health for large gatherings, MSE and the DBA, with help from corporate sponsors and volunteers, joined together to host a series of holiday events in November and December.
Annual activities, such as downtown carriage and train rides, were out, but others — including the Downtown Holiday Lighting Ceremony, Downtown Holiday Open House, a Black Friday sales event, photos with Santa, Shop Small Saturday and drawings and prize giveaways that included a gift basket with a $3,600 value — went on with some modifications in order to comply with COVID-19 guidelines.
For instance, the crowd size for the lighting ceremony was limited to 330 people within the gated event boundaries. Face masks were also required.
Also, photos with Santa entailed selfies with Santa in the background, rather than the traditional lap-sitting experience.
Brumley said the community enthusiastically took to the holiday event offerings.
“We had a good turnout for the holiday lighting. We had a good crowd and we didn’t have to turn anybody away,” she said.
The night before Thanksgiving, downtown retail shops opened from 8 p.m. until midnight but Brumley said so many shoppers explored downtown for the Black Friday event, some shops reported staying open past midnight.
“I was down there and there was no parking and all of the stores were full. I stayed until about 10:30, 11 (p.m.) because the crowd had started to die down and we thought no one else was coming, but they kept coming,” Brumley said with a laugh.
“And on Shop Small Saturday, there were quite a few people downtown. I think most stores had a good holiday shopping season,” she added.
It is with that response that MSE is moving into 2021.
Outlook
Brumley said that while MSE has not yet hammered out its plans for the year, some ideas are starting to take shape.
“I feel like based off a (recent) meeting we had with the DBA and how the holiday events went, we want to move forward as normal as possible and plan with the (state) health department to find out how we can make things work,” Brumley explained.
Shamrockin’ on the Square, the annual downtown St. Patrick’s Day celebration, was the first event on MSE’s list to be axed in 2020 because of COVID-19 and it is the first event the group has tentatively planned for this year.
A fundraising event — an exhibition featuring the world-famed Harlem Globetrotters — was held last February in the El Dorado High School Wildcat Arena.
It was the first and last event MSE hosted in 2020.
Shamrockin’ was up next in March but after an initial postponement and then a rescheduling because of the public health crisis, the event was eventually canceled for good.
Summer and fall events — Showdown at Sunset, the Summer Concert Series, Smoke on the Square, a one-day fall festival, and MusicFest (which is presented in a partnership with the Murphy Arts District) — followed suit.
Brumley said MSE is considering March 13 as a potential date for Shamrockin’ 2021 and she has reached out to board members and the DBA to solicit ideas and suggestions for the event and others for the rest of the year.
She said the MSE board will discuss matters further during a virtual meeting that is scheduled for noon on Jan. 26, adding that ideas from the public are also welcome.
“We feel like it’s going to happen. We have to change the way we do events. We may not have as many events as we typically do but it’ll certainly be more than last year,” Brumley said.
MSE is also still working with Main Street Arkansas to develop a campaign with fundraising ideas and marketing tools to educate the public about the purpose and function of the MSE program.
Plans to roll out the campaign in November were tabled because the project had not been finalized, said Brumley.
For more information, call the MSE office at 870-862-4747 or visit the MSE Facebook page or website at www.mainstreeteldorado.org.