Metuchen’s membership in the Main Street New Jersey (MSNJ) program could help breathe life into what some see as an ailing downtown.
“This seems to be something people have wanted for a long time,” said Councilwoman Allison Inserro, who led efforts to get the borough accepted into the program at the associate level.
Run by the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA), MSNJ is the certified state-coordinating program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s National Main Street Center.
“The Main Street New Jersey program works to revitalize Main Street downtown districts using a concept called the Four- Point Approach,” Inserro said during the Nov. 10 Borough Council meeting.
Consisting of organization, promotion, design and economic restructuring, the four areas aim to bring people together; create a positive image and get the word out about a downtown; bring the area to an optimal aesthetic; and make use of existing assets while diversifying the community’s economic base.
The program also makes use of eight guiding principles for downtown areas.
“It will literally put us on a map on the official state of New Jersey website, identifying Metuchen as a traditional downtown with the potential for historical and economic redevelopment,” said Nicole Chinchar, executive director of the Metuchen Area Chamber of Commerce. “It’s the state recognizing the fact that we have the key components, through our history and in concert with the redevelopment that is about to take place in our town over the next two years. I firmly believe that this support, coupled with the right strategy, could have a huge impact on the economy of our downtown.”
While the associate level of the program is the tier that offers the fewest services to towns, Inserro said it provides a good starting point for Metuchen. “It was just the most appropriate level for us,” she said after the meeting. “What this is about is really best practices for promoting and marketing your downtown.”
Acknowledging that the borough will need help in this effort, Inserro said MSNJ and DCA staff will be available to officials, business owners and other stakeholders.
“The small mom-and-pop [businesses], some of them need assistance in trying to compete,” she said.
Metuchen Area Chamber of Commerce President Steve Epstein agreed, but said the problems faced by small businesses are widespread.
“It’s not just Metuchen, and I don’t think Metuchen is unusual or the exception in what’s going on,” he said. “I think it’s happening everywhere.”
The longtime owner of Metuchen’s Boro Ace Hardware knows from experience, with his time in retail spanning 27 years in the borough and 34 years overall.
Epstein said he is selling his Middlesex Avenue business to Renaissance Properties, which will lease the property on which it is located to the Whole Foods Market that is slated to open in 2016 or 2017.
He said neither Boro Ace Hardware nor the recently shuttered Main Street Trattoria closed due to lack of business.
According to Epstein, a number of factors can contribute to businesses being unable to stay afloat. For example, sometimes new businesses aren’t providing the right offerings in town, he said.
Chinchar said success or failure as a small-business owner often hinges on the knowledge with which one is equipped.
“When I look at the successes in Metuchen — Boro Ace, Hailey’s [Harp & Pub], Marafiki [Fair Trade], Lollipop Land, Breezes [Café & Grill] — they are all individuals who had a well-thought-out plan and solid knowledge base,” she said.
In helping with that, the chamber has offered to meet with and offer guidance to those seeking to open a business in town.
Overall, though, Epstein cited surrounding corporate retailers and online commerce as major variables that add to the difficulty of running a successful small business.
“We’re so inundated,” he said. “There are vacancies in Westfield; there are vacancies in Cranford and in Summit. Unfortunately, the economic situation isn’t that good.”
The towns Epstein cited are ones that some Metuchen residents have pointed to as references for what the borough’s downtown could, or should, be. All three have designated special improvement districts (SIDs). Also known as business improvement districts (BIDs), SIDs are defined areas within a municipality in which business owners pay a tax or fee for improvements and maintenance of the district, along with costs for marketing and promotion.
Borough Council President Jay Muldoon said that while the Development Commission and others have supported the idea of establishing a BID or SID, he didn’t think the business community would support one at this point. Instead, he suggested a downtown retail consultant who could assess needs and create an action plan for the borough.
The MSNJ program would provide similar guidance.
“We have to start promoting our assets,” Inserro said, pointing out that the program helps towns to leverage historical and environmental resources.
She cited the Middlesex Greenway as one such asset, saying it could bring people from Edison and Woodbridge to walk and bike in the borough.
Such undertakings could help make Metuchen a destination, Inserro said.
“There are lots and lots of factors that go into having a creative, vibrant, healthy downtown,” she said.
And while some residents have voiced concerns that the incoming Whole Foods, along with the mixed-use Pearl Street Piazza project, will potentially hurt downtown businesses, there seems to be consensus among borough officials that the projects will only help the downtown.
“What we want to do is knit everything together. … We’re not going to leave anyone out,” Inserro said. “You want to encourage a sense of place, you want to encourage walking from place to place, and you want to encourage people to stick around.”
Like others, Epstein said the addition of residents from the Pearl Street project should be a help to retailers, and Whole Foods “does provide a much-needed anchor in our town.”
Once hired, the borough’s new business administrator will likely take the lead on the MSNJ program, along with a committee of stakeholders that has yet to be assembled, according to Inserro.
Jef Buehler, director of MSNJ, is slated to visit Metuchen on March 25 to talk about the program.