Main Street Madison to launch market survey, we need your input

Jen DeLessio
Executive Director
Main Street Madison

 


Happy May, Madison!  Main Street Madison (MSM) is grateful for the opportunity to update our community on all the great things we are doing! 

For those not yet familiar with MSM - We are a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to the continued revitalization of downtown Madison.  As Executive Director of MSM, I am the only employee of MSM.  Our Executive Board, Committee Members and other local supporters of MSM are all volunteers and I am so grateful that we have such an amazing community of people that give back in so many ways.  MSM is a public-private partnership.  This means the City of Madison, our local businesses and community form the partnership that makes our work possible.  As a member of Main Street Alabama and Main Street America, MSM receives benefits and guidance, using a nearly 50 year proven Main Street Approach. 

The Main Street Four Point Approach includes: Design, Organization, Promotion and Economic Vitality.  Each of our committees (which are aligned with these points) are diving into action in each of these areas.  This month I would like to highlight the work of our Economic Vitality (EV) Committee.  This committee is chaired by Rod Matthews, owner of Bellehouse Event Venue.  This committee is composed of a stellar group of individuals: Paul Finley, Missy Davis, Kristin King, Laura Puchner, Emily Santiago, John Seifert and Kristen Strickland.

Our EV Committee recently met with Mary Helmer Wirth (State Coordinator for Main Street Alabama) and Jay Schlinsog (Downtown Professionals Network) to kick off the Market Study for Main Street Madison.  The Market Study is used to assess current conditions, gauge potential for growth, and inform concepts for redevelopment within the Main Street Madison downtown district.

The Market Study involves a full deep dive into the local and regional demographics, lifestyle and retail data. Data involves looking 5 minutes, 10 minutes and 20 minutes from the center of downtown Madison. This data can help us to understand the supply and demand for all different types of businesses and services.  A simple explanation is this: Supply minus Demand = Sales Surplus or Sales Leakage.  If you have a Sales Surplus, then the amount of that particular product or service is greater than the need in the community.  When there is a Sales Leakage, this means that there is not sufficient product or service to meet the demand.  When this is the case, the residents in our community must travel further or purchase online to meet their needs.

What’s really exciting about this data?  It gives us the opportunity to help our local downtown businesses to make adjustments to what they offer to better meet the needs of our community.  It’s also an incredible opportunity for our businesses to work together.  For example, if we have several retail shops in our district that specialize in jewelry, we will be stronger as a district if these shops work together to offer different types or brands of jewelry.  The beauty of the Main Street program is not just in providing these resources to our district, but also the sharing of best practices from the other 33 Main Street designated districts in Alabama.

So how can you get involved in this process?  No later than June 9th, MSM will launch a market survey and we need as many participants to take this survey as possible!  The more data we get, the better suited the proposed strategies and solutions for our downtown will be for the community.  So please be on the lookout for this!  We will be promoting the survey in all ways possible - on social media (www.facebook.com/mainstreetmadison), on our website (www.mainstreetmadison.org) and all around town!  

We will then invite the entire community to an Open House on August 26th.  Here our MSM board along with Main Street Alabama and Downtown Professional Network will present the survey results, concepts and strategies.  

And how’s this for economic vitality?! The Main Street Catering Kitchen is now open!  Thank you to the City of Madison and the Madison Chamber for joining us in this very special ribbon cutting event.  The catering kitchen is available for your events, but you can also stop in every day except Sunday to “bring a little of Madison home with you”.   A huge shout-out to Billie Goodson for this amazingly perfect quote!


Main Street Cafe Catering Kitchen Ribbon Cutting
Pictured from left to right: Kristen Strickland, Jen DeLessio, Shannon Fisher, Laura Puchner, Brenda Matthews, Jamerson Godsey, Tammy Hall, Michelle Epling.

In the meantime, we hope you will attend all the fun events planned in our downtown!  MSM is working towards building a calendar to better communicate all the great events, both big and small that we have every single week (look for this on our website).  But please be sure to put these bigger events on your calendar:

  • All-Nashville Roadshow in Home Place Park, May 9th, doors open at 5:30 pm and the live music starts at 7 pm. This music festival will have food, drink, and three rising stars from the Nashville music scene.  You can bring your own chairs, or you can rent chairs and even a table at the event!  Tickets on sale at: https://allnashvilleroadshow.com/madison-al-tickets

  • A Taste of Downtown Block Party, Main Street Madison, Saturday May 16th from 11 am - 4 pm.  Live music, kids activities and more.  What makes this event special?  You can (optionally) purchase a ticket to taste some delicious dishes from: Main Street Cafe, Old Black Bear, Zanotta’s, Vine & Oak, and Lanier House.  Also - don’t forget about Honest Coffee for your pick me up!  Tickets on sale here: https://mainstreetmadison.org/products/taste-of-madison-block-party-5-16-26




 

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