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Main Street Barberton reports downtown gains: 72 businesses, events and new promotions
Summary
Main Street Barberton told the council it documented 72 downtown businesses in its boundary, added new DORA locations, ran small-business trainings and recorded event-driven sales lifts; the organization reported limited revenue from branded cup sales and plans additional parklets and beautification in 2025.
Melanie with Main Street Barberton updated the council on downtown business outreach, events and marketing at the Jan. 27 rules, marketing and development committee meeting.
“Within our Main Street boundaries we currently have 72 businesses,” Melanie said, and she added the downtown inventory showed capacity for roughly 33 additional businesses. The organization also said it is reviewing local ordinances affecting vacant buildings and has been coordinating fire and building inspections to ensure occupied properties hold current occupancy certificates.
Why it matters
Main Street Barberton’s work is positioned as a public–private effort to attract new businesses, support existing storefronts and increase foot traffic downtown. Committee members praised the program’s events and business-education offerings as a way to spur sales and attract investment.
What Main Street reported
- Business inventory and capacity: 72 businesses currently in the defined downtown boundary; capacity identified for about 33 more storefronts. - Small-business training: Seven small-business meetings last year, covering topics such as Facebook marketing, grant opportunities, loans and Google-profile training; Main Street expanded meetings beyond its boundary to include all Barberton businesses. - DORA (Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area) program: Main Street supervises DORA marketing and training, added two DORA vendor locations (Leader Tafel and the Hungarian Club) and reported $6,291 in cup sales, with a profit of about $1,200 after expenses. - Events and economic impact: Main Street reported more than 3,000 attendees across ‘Second Saturdays’ last year and an estimated 1,500 at the first Magic City Arts and Music Festival. Organizers cited business-reported sales lifts — for example, Ignite Brewing Company reported a 67% increase in sales compared with the prior week during the festival. - Beautification and amenities: Main Street bought 20 flower pots (cost about $4,000, with two flowerings planned) through sponsorships, sponsored monthly cleanups (45 bags of litter collected, 72 volunteers) and piloted parklets and outdoor seating at Alexander Commons and along Tusk Avenue. - Promotions and advertising: Main Street created videos, a downtown map and a calendar of events, airs radio segments and is running ads at a local movie theater to promote downtown merchants.
Council reaction
Council members thanked Main Street for volunteer-driven cleanups and event programming. Councilor Emily Beck and others said small-business meetings were helpful even for merchants outside the Main Street boundary and encouraged continued outreach.
What Main Street will do next
Main Street distributed event materials and described two upcoming promotions: a ‘7-day, $7 challenge’ encouraging residents to spend $7 at seven participating businesses to enter a $150 prize drawing, and a paid Girl Scout Cookie Walk in March to raise revenue for the organization.
The organization also reported it generated roughly $181,000 last year in sponsorships, donations and in-kind support, which it uses alongside the city partnership to run events and marketing.
Quote
"These meetings are a great idea," Melanie said, summarizing participant feedback. "Most downtown businesses are hard to get to participate in events and meetings. We do appreciate you and everything Main Street does."
