Shoppers browse one of five rooms of merchandise at Necessities for the Heart on South Main Street in Allentown. JEFF GRANIT staff A lthough a few businesses have shuttered their doors for good in historic Allentown’s downtown over the past year, the remaining shops and restaurants appear to be holding their own.
“Business has been great for me,” Sandy Lobley, owner of Earth Goddess Jewelry and Gifts at 28 S. Main St., said. “My season was wonderful. My whole year has been better than … last year.”
With an ailing economy, the bridge project and subsequent flooding from Hurricane Irene, and a lack of parking presenting issues for some in the downtown, a thriving business could seem like a near impossibility.
For Lobley, however, these issues have not presented a problem. Despite the proximity of her store — along with the adjoining Necessities for the Heart — to the town’s bridge and mill property, where Hurricane Irene wreaked havoc in August, the historic house where they are located suffered no effects, she said.
Woody’s Towne Café on South Main Street bustles with activity Friday morning. PHOTOS BY JEFF GRANIT staff In addition, the building that houses the two shops already has parking behind it.
“Additional parking in this town is always good,” she noted.
Earth Goddess, which has been open for two years, sells a variety of gifts, including hand-blown glass décor, cheese boards created from repurposed wine bottles, jewelry, and scented lotions and oils.
Lobley tries to go the extra mile to please customers by offering gift wrapping and hosting events like an upcoming men’s night to help shopping-impaired guys as Valentine’s Day approaches.
“To me, I think it’s up to you as an individual to get your business out there,” Lobley said. “All good things come to those who wait.” Georgette Keenan, owner of Necessities of the Heart, follows the same philosophy. With 15 years of successful business in the borough and two other stores in Point Pleasant Beach and Bordentown that opened later, she must be doing something right.
The Old Mill Crafters Guild remains closed since the flooding after Hurricane Irene in August. “I don’t want to say it’s an American success story, but good heavens — three stores later, and [I’m] still standing,” she said.
The Tuesday afternoon after Christmas could easily find a local boutique empty, but Keenan’s five-room shop was bustling with activity after the holiday. The steady business stream could be a result of the popular items the shop carries — Brighton and Vera Bradley accessories, Trollbeads and a host of other gifts — but watching Keenan interact with customers provides further clues.
Along with offering customers coffee or to take their coats as they arrive, Keenan gave hugs and oohed and aahed over baby pictures as customers came and went.
“When we meet or have a new customer visit us, we try to form a relationship,” she said. “We want them to feel special here.”
The Millstone resident also keeps in touch with customers once the initial relationship is formed.
“We send our emails at least once or twice a month, and they’re personal,” she said.
In them, Keenan writes about goings-on in her family or may include a poem, she said.
The personal touch she imparts came back around after the hurricane’s floods. Although the waters didn’t reach the shops there, Necessities for the Heart did see some effects, she said.
“It was very bad down at this end,” she said. “People assumed we were under water and we were all closed. Monday, I came into town and I was horrified. I’m going to cry, because it takes me back a little bit.”
Keenan set about emailing customers to let them know the shop was open for business and before she knew it, they were coming through the doors.
“In fact, we stayed open an extra hour, because all our customers came out to make sure we were OK. They were amazing,” she said .
Part ofwhat has made the shop successful for so long is its way of reinventing itself to evolve with customers’wants and needs, according to Keenan. This applies not only to the merchandise she carries, which started with teapots and tea, but also to the fluctuations of the economy.
“We’ve seen a more careful shopper this year,” she said. “We planned for some lower price points this year.”
Price points ranged from $20 all the way to the top-priced item, a limited-edition skull necklace priced at $1,350. The necklace sold.
Although the shop has its own parking lot, Keenan did acknowledge the need for more parking in the downtown, citing the chicken and egg conundrum. She said the town needs more businesses and more parking, but which should come first remains in question.
The shops located a mere 50 feet away from 28 S. Main St., previously located behind the closed mill building, did not fare so well. The Old Mill Crafters Guild, Pleasant Run Peddlers and the Quilter’s Cottage remained closed after severe flooding from Hurricane Irene. The weight of the rushing floodwater caused the driveway leading to the shops behind the mill to collapse.
Themill building, where the Black Forest restaurant and other shops were formerly housed, along with its attached auxiliary building, was closed by the county, using eminent domain, for the duration of the bridge and dam replacement project. The county allowed the shops in the outbuildings on the mill property to remain open, but they, too, are now closed.
Despite vacancies left when Holiday on Church closed in August and Chocolate N Dreams moved to South Main Street in February, business is good at Pet Life of Allentown in its new Church Street location, according to owner Denise Mummolo.
“I sell food for dogs and cats, so my business was fine,” she said.
Along with food for pets, Pet Life sells toys, treats and clothing for furry friends, the fanciest of which is housed in the shop’s new “Bling Room.”
Open for a total of 2½ years, Mummolo’s shop was on South Main Street until she moved to Church Street in June when her lease ended. She said business has increased since the move.
“I’m so glad I moved here,” she said, adding, “Unfortunately, we need some more shops.”
The owner of La Piazza, the Italian restaurant a few doors down from Pet Life, owns the building where Mummolo’s shop is housed. She said she couldn’t be happier with her landlord.
Not all businesses, however, are pleased with the current situation. Debra Ocasio, who owns Chocolate N Dreams, said business has not increased since she moved to her new location on South Main Street.
Although the holiday season went well for her, Ocasio took issue with the borough taking holiday decorations for the downtown out of the municipal budget, which caused business owners to purchase downtown décor with donations.
“The local government hasn’t done much to promote the businesses or to make them look better,” she said. “We’re up against a mayor, who in my personal opinion, doesn’t work with the businesses very well. The horizon doesn’t look very clear.”
Ocasio’s shop has been open in the borough for seven years, and she is hoping to continue to go strong despite the obstacles, which include vacant storefronts.
“You can’t welcome bus trips when there are less than a dozen businesses in town,” she said.
According to Ocasio, while surrounding towns secure grants to improve their downtown areas, Allentown officials have fallen short in obtaining them.
“There’s a difference between looking historical and looking run-down,” she said. “Right now, Allentown is looking run-down.”
Don Wood, owner of Woody’s Towne Café, agreed that the borough needs more businesses to fill out the downtown.
“It’s harder to keep a downtown viable without having all the businesses,” he said. “Business is off 40 percent of what it was five years ago.”
Wood attributed this to the overall economic climate, as well as to large shopping centers like HamiltonMarketplace.
However, he has sought to combat the wane in business with new tactics.
“I’ve always sworn by word of mouth, but because of the economy, I’ve done some advertising,” he said.
According to Wood, it has helped. Now, he sees more customers visiting Woody’s as a destination, he said.
If the Tuesday afternoon crowd— when several customers were standing at the front of the restaurant waiting for tables — is any indication, Wood is doing a good job of spreading the word.
He also did some renovations last year to help the restaurant compete with other area eateries.
Home of the “Woody roll,” a homemade sandwich roll made on the premises, the restaurant serves breakfast and lunch daily.
Although the bridge being shut down for a day or so while work was being done affected Wood’s business, he praised officials for an efficient job on the bridge project.
Despite permanently closing the doors of Holiday on Church this year, Ginger and Marty Locke have remained optimistic. As owners of the Alps Bistro at 4 S. Main St., the couple still maintains a viable presence in the downtown, and even features some remaining inventory from Holiday on Church in their restaurant.
Ginger Locke cited the changing of the neighborhood on Church Street as part of the shop’s demise after two years in business.
“No one knewthe shop existed on Church Street,” she said.
Open since July 2010, the Alps Bistro offers European food, including sauerbraten, rouladen and wursts.
“It has been packed with the holidays,”
Linda Carr, a server at the restaurant, said.
According to Locke, the summer is typically the quiet time of year, and business picks up in fall and winter.
“The true test comes in January,” she said.
For the first week of January, the Alps Bistro will offer lighter fare to accommodate patrons who have made New Year’s resolutions to lose weight, she said.
The only problem the restaurant experiences with parking for patrons is on Saturday morningswhen people are all stopping to drop off their dry cleaning at the neighboring cleaners, but even that is momentary at best, she said.
“There really isn’t a problem with parking,” she said. “It’s a perception problem.”
According to Locke, the municipal parking lot, paired with parking offered by borough churches when they are not holding services, provides ample spots.
“God bless all the churches in the area,” she said.