By Greg Forester, Staff Writer
Greg ForesterStaff Writer
PRINCETON — The idea is fairly simple, says Nick Hilton, a Princeton merchant.
Raise awareness of Princeton’s locally owned, independent businesses. Get people to spend locally, strengthening businesses and reinvigorating the local economy. Finally, get people from outside of Princeton to think of the area as more than just a university town, but also as a shopping destination with a plethora of local merchants and retailers you can’t find anywhere else.
With those goals in mind, a group of merchants met at Mr. Hilton’s clothing shop on Witherspoon Street last week, where they began the process of forming a loose-knit marketing organization to promote Princeton unique stable of locally-owned, independent retailers.
Kicking off the discussion, Mr. Hilton recalled borrowing an easel from a friend, who happened to lack a pad of paper.
”He told me to go to Staples” to get the pad, Mr. Hilton said, rather than Princeton’s own local paper and office product shops, like Hinkson’s on Spring Street.
So far the consensus seems to be the group should be nothing more than an informal marketing organization.
It might function by sponsoring local sports teams and events, providing coupons for shoppers who buy locally, or even undertaking a letter campaign to local residents, letting them know “this is us,” according to Mr. Hilton.
The group would remain apolitical, Mr. Hilton said, keeping out of such issues as the recent controversy over changes to Princeton Borough parking rules.
The group’s focus on getting people to Princeton for unique shopping opportunities comes out of a recognition that independent shops are a draw for people who frequent upscale shopping destinations.
The merchants said that many upscale stores in other areas are fairly ubiquitous, unlike what Princeton has to offer.
”You could fall out of bed and be in front of a J. Crew,” said Mr. Hilton, in a Wednesday interview.
There’s also a green element to the plan, said Mr. Hilton, who recalled how a gentleman who shopped at his business Wednesday adamantly refused to take a plastic shopping bag out of deference to sustainability.
”People’s attitudes are changing and we want to capitalize on that,” Mr. Hilton said.
People from Princeton who choose to shop locally rather than traveling to the Route 1 corridor or even further away not only keep their dollars in town, but they also keep their cars there, preserving their gas tanks, the merchants said.
Following the initial meeting, the next step appears to be outreach and securing more members.
Attendees included local developer Jack Morrison, Henry Landau of Landau’s of Princeton clothing store, Mark Censits of CoolVines wine store, Rachel Reiss and Lynne Rabinowitz of Hedy Shepard women’s fashion, Lewis Wildman of Jordan’s Card Store, and Whole Earth’s Fran McManus, as well as Mr. Hilton’s wife, Jennifer.
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