THE
TOWN CENTER TATTLER
May 2003
A Message From Bernie Golomb, Chairman, Bayonne Town Center
Interim
Manager. I am happy to announce that David Milder,
of DANTH, Inc, has been hired to be the interim district
manager of the Bayonne Town Center and to help us in our
search for a permanent executive director. David has over
25 years of experience in the downtown revitalization field
and is very familiar with Bayonne and the Town Center.
Mothers
Day. Over 50 merchants participated in our Mother’s
Day “Queen For A Day” promotion. That’s
the kind of merchant involvement we can be proud of. I want
to publicly thank Mary Divock, of the Klothes Kloset, for
all the hard work that made this happen.
Classic
Car Show. Our annual Classic Car Show Summer Series
will soon be upon us – the first event will be during
the evening of Thursday, June 19th. The car show is one
of our strongest customer traffic generators. It will bring
lots of potential customers into the Town Center. Now is
the time to start thinking about how you can lure them into
your shop. First of all, will you be open? Will you offer
a special promotional discount? Will you advertise?
Know
Your Customer
Successful merchants know about their customer base. Most
of your potential customers now probably come from Bayonne.
Bayonne’s population has been changing. While the population
only grew 1.4%, from 60,782 to 61,842, between 1990 and 2000,,
there was lots of turnover in Bayonne’s housing units:
14.6% of the householders in occupied units in 2000 had moved
in between 1999 and March 2000; 26.1% had moved into their
unit between 1995 and 1998. Many of these new residents have
to learn about the Town Center and its shops and restaurants.
We see
lots of senior citizens on Broadway, but, between 1990 and
2000, the number of people 65 years of age and older decreased
by 11%, from 11,496 to 10,237. Conversely, Bayonne’s
under 18 population grew by 15.8%, from 11,810 to 13,672.
Outdoor Sipping and Snacking
 The
Bayonne Town Center wants to encourage eating and drinking
establishments to place tables and chairs outside so their
patrons can sip and snack al fresco. While the width of our
sidewalks and zoning regulations mean that there is usually
only about a six foot deep area in front of your establishment
to put the tables and chairs, the result can still be appealing
and add to the list of attractive activities that people can
engage in along Broadway.
The Metropolitan
Grill has created such outdoor seating and demonstrates what
can be accomplished.
The Bayonne
Town Center is aware of the limitations of the current outdoor
dining rules and regulations and we are working to improve
them.
Some
Tips About Purchasing:
- When
determining how much merchandise to buy, keep in mind that,
generally speaking, up to eighty percent of your sales will
come from as little as twenty percent of your product line.
Identify this twenty percent and plan your purchasing accordingly.
- It
is prudent for you to reserve about 15% of your purchasing
budget each quarter. Doing this will give you flexibility
for spontaneous purchasing when something exciting comes
your way or if you detect a new area of customer interest.
Some
Tips About Advertising:
- Make
your ads easy to recognize.
- Use
a simple layout.
- Use
dominant illustrations.
- Show
the benefit to the reader.
- Feature
the "right" item.
- State
a price or range of prices.
- Include
store name and address.
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