Get more women to go to downtown Warren, official says
By ED RUNYAN
WARREN
Build relationships with female shoppers and direct people to enter the downtown area along its most attractive routes were two suggestions made by an Ohio State University Extension Service educator to the results of a survey of downtown business owners.
“Females to me are your greatest opportunity to fill in a gap,” said Sharon Strouse, who serves all of Northeast Ohio for OSU.
The survey of 41 business owners, most of them retailers, was conducted last year by Main Street Warren, an association of downtown business owners.
OSU assisted with the survey, and Gregory Davis, associate professor, presented the results Wednesday at the Sunrise Inn.
The results showed that 56 percent of business owners thought more of their customers are men than women, which Strouse said is the reverse of most downtown retail areas. More females shopping downtown would equal better sales numbers, she said.
“Could you build on women ownership or managers?” she said. “There’s a great opportunity to build relationships with women.”
As for the gateways to the city, Strouse said she found some of them to be attractive and some not so attractive.
“I’ve never seen anything in any of your promotions that tell you how to get there,” she said, adding that people coming to Warren from out of town don’t care what way they get here. They will follow the map, even if it’s not the most direct route, she said.
The survey showed that the amphitheater was considered the downtown’s greatest asset, Strouse said, adding that with Courthouse Square nearby, there is a large green space available that people could use in a variety of new ways.
For one, taking outdoor pictures of wedding parties is huge today, so those should be encouraged, as well as class reunions and auctions, she added.
The survey showed that December and May are the downtown’s busiest months and that the summer is among the least busy, which means there’s ample opportunity for more leisure activities downtown, Strouse said.
The surveys indicated that more than half of the business owners consider their business to be either emerging or growing, 56 percent owned their space, 50 percent had three or fewer employees, and 84 percent of the business are open less than 12 hours on the weekend.