Small town marketing 101

Stevenson, WA (Picture from columbiariverimages.com)

Hood River, OR (Picture from gonorthwest.com)

I'm about to get very critical of the small town that I live in so we will see how this goes. Don't hate me for my honesty. I understand that this is me comparing Stevenson to Hood River again but I just can't help it. I've been to Hood River twice this last weekend and I noticed some things that made me want to rant a bit about storefront appearance.

The Columbia River Gorge is known for basically two things, outdoor extreme sports and natural beauty as far as the eye can see. We are where the adventure seeking crowd come to when they want to have a little fun. This is true of both Stevenson and Hood River. This last weekend, after we screened our movie (which was amazing by the way and got huge laughs) my husband and I wondered around the downtown shopping district of Hood River. As I walked down the street and gazed into the windows I realized that Hood River has learned something that Stevenson has not. The stores along the downtown strip (a larger version of what we have in Stevenson) have a cohesiveness about them that caters perfectly to the demographic they are trying to attract. The strip is lined with stores that are earthy in appearance yet clean and simplistic. Most of them are not to cluttered and all of the window displays entice the passerby to peak inside at what they may have to offer for the shoppers latest adventure. It's as though all of the shop owners got together and decided that that was the appearance they wanted everyone to achieve. And who knows, perhaps there's some city code or ordinance that says it has to be that way. All I know is that when you walk down the main shopping strip of Hood River it is oddly calming despite the heavy traffic and large crowds. You feel a sense of still being connected to nature without actually being in it and you are not overwhelmed by crowded shops with no clear direction on what they are selling. In Stevenson, this is not the case.

The main street of Stevenson is riddled with little stores. All of them (except one) are your usual mom and pop type of place...a chain store snuck in a few years back but they are attempting to blend in which I am thankful for. Out of all the stores only four come to mind as actually maintaining the same type of air as those stores in Hood River. The main feel you get when driving downtown Stevenson is that there is a Hodge podge of stores selling many different things attempting to attract many different types of customers. Don't get me wrong. I love Stevenson and I am especially fond of our little downtown. To me it is something you might find on the front of a post card. However, with a lagging economy and a struggle to attract new businesses and investors in our community I think that something can be said for storefront presence. When a community displays clear cohesiveness and gets rid of the clutter it makes it seem like it has its act together. Kinda like you can clean your front room and straighten the dinning room but if the rest of the house is messy it is still an unattractive place to be. I believe that if you are going to run a business and know that you are going to be on prime real estate you should have the drive and the desire to create a presence that is reflective of the community and of the type of people the community attracts. That being said...Stevenson is still home and I do love it here. This is mainly to serve as an example for others who may read and want to know how they can better dress their stores or shops for success. If your gonna exist in a small town who's tourism industry is based around nature, your store needs to reflect that energy.