February 19, 2009
Downtown Retail and the Current Economy:
Riding the Trends During Tough Times
Presenters:
- David Milder, President and Founder, DANTH, Inc. - Kew Gardens, New York
- J.D Milburn, Small Business Specialist - The Wisconsin Main Street Program
Description: Downtown Retail and the Current Economy: Riding the Trends During Tough Times
- Consumers have less to spend
- Many merchants face severe problems
- Different downtowns are impacted differently
- While many major chain retail stores are closing, how can downtowns weather the storm? What kinds of stores, restaurants and niches can strengthen downtowns role in the community, both in the current economy and in brighter days to come?
- What help can we as downtown professionals provide our downtown business community
- National (Milder) and Wisconsin (Milburn) perspectives will be shared
Foundational Readings:
"Retail Economics 101: Lessons and Strategies of a Recession." A report by Iowa State University Extension, Sept. 2008. http://www.econ.iastate.edu/research/webpapers/paper_12995.pdf
"Soft Economy Creates Hard Challenges for Some Communities." National Main Street Center.
http://www.preservationnation.org/main-street/soft-economy.html
Downtown Economics - The above articles and others related to the downtown economy are summarized in short e-newsletter format at: http://www.uwex.edu/ces/cced/downtowns/ltb/index.cfm
Facilitator's Discussion Guide: For UW-Extension hosts (requires Net ID) Click here.
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Follow-up Readings and Related Materials:
Discussion Blog: Visit our discussion blog and see what the presenters, audience, and others have to say about this and other topics in the series. Open for Q&A and comments.