Main Street Matters by Heart on Main Street

As Heart on Main Street celebrates an important anniversary for our organization, I want to wish you a happy Thanksgiving, tell you what I am thankful for, and tease what we are doing for Giving Tuesday.!

In mid-October, our Main Street Monday series took me to Saratoga Springs, NY! This is a city rich in history and culture. Over the last few decades, the city, its retailers, and their Downtown Business Association have done many things to create a fun community that has allowed businesses to grow in the downtown area. I was able to interview retailers Heidi Owen West and Maddy Zanetti as part of my visit. Both West and Zanetti are extremely involved in the downtown and strive to see their community grow. From the fun art series to creative window displays to fantastic retail establishments, Saratoga Springs was a tremendous visit for Main Street Monday.

https://www.heartonmainstreet.org/
https://www.heartonmainstreet.org/past-webinars
https://www.impressionssaratoga.com/
https://lifestylesofsaratoga.com/
https://carolineandmain.com/
https://www.unionhallsupplyco.com/

Our Main Street Monday tour rolls on as we visit the towns of St. Charles, IL; Goshen, IN, and Lanesboro, MN! All three of these towns have taken purposeful steps to improve their town's Main Street areas to make them more friendly to independent retail businesses. 

To support Heart on Main Street, you can visit www.heartonmainstreet.org. You can sign up for one of our monthly webinars, find resources to help your business grow or make a donation to our organization. 

If you'd like to have your town featured in a Main Street Monday or would like to sponsor this podcast, email contact@heartonmainstreet.org

Creating great window displays can attract eyes and bring in new customers, especially around the holidays. Amy Meadows of Windows Matter joined the Main Street Matters webinar to talk about tips, tactics, and tools that can make your store windows stand out this holiday season. Amy started Windows Matter consulting firm after decades of experience in retail window design and visual merchandising, including being the head designer for the famous Marshall Fields windows in Chicago for 25 years. This was a wonderful conversation full of ideas and strategies on how to make your window displays stand out this holiday season. 

Windows Matter: https://www.windowsmatter.com/index.php
Heart on Main Street: https://www.heartonmainstreet.org/
Watch this webinar or register for future webinars: https://www.heartonmainstreet.org/education
Holiday Foliage: https://holidayfoliage.com/
Vickerman: https://www.vickerman.com/
Fiverr: https://www.fiverr.com/
Frontdoor Back: https://frontdoorback.com/

Our next Main Street Monday tour brings us to the towns of Madison, WI, and Bloomfield, IA. Outwardly, these towns are significantly different from each other, but both have a passion and support for independent retail and a willingness to see the success of independent retailers. I was invited to visit both of these towns by supporters of Heart on Main Street and learned so much in each area. During these trips, I was able to interview retailers Carol Schroeder and Joanne Berg, as well as Bloomfield Main Street coordinator Jen Cutler. 

To support Heart on Main Street, you can visit www.heartonmainstreet.org. You can sign up for one of our monthly webinars, find resources to help your business grow, or make a donation to our organization. 

Retailers start their businesses to make money, but a lot goes on behind the scenes to make that dream a reality. Dane Cohen of Management One joins Main Street Matters by Heart on Main Street to talk about the vibe-cession that has characterized thoughts on the recent economy, how retailers can re-think margins, play offense with buying products, sharpen their pricing, and embrace markdowns. 

https://www.heartonmainstreet.org/
https://www.heartonmainstreet.org/education
https://www.management-one.com/

Heart on Main Street visits a new town every Monday to learn about the retailers and what makes them successful. Seeing different things towns and retailers do to help the businesses in their communities grow is incredible. In this episode, we explore the villages of Elmhurst, OL; Zionsville, IN; Pentwater, MI; and Cedarburg, WI. 

https://www.heartonmainstreet.org/

Selling products through social media and live selling is the newest trend to increase sales and reach more customers. But it can be intimidating and difficult if you don't know how to do it effectively. Carolyn Williamson from Comment Sold joins the Main Street Matters webinar to talk about the power of live selling and why you, as a retailer, need to jump on this trend.

https://www.heartonmainstreet.org/
https://www.heartonmainstreet.org/education
https://try.commentsold.com/