Downtown Events Irk Local Business Owners

Local business owners led by store owner and West Chester Borough Council President Holly Brown asked the Parks and Recreation Committee if there could be a more cooperative effort when in comes to downtown events.

“We need to figure out how to run these events without there negative effects,” Brown said.  “Sometimes these events show an incredible lack of understanding about the business owners.”

Brown along with several other downtown business owners argued that downtown events like Swingin’ Summer Thursday and Super Sunday hurt local businesses.

“On days with these events there’s no reason to stay open,” said Karen Cavin owner of .  “We need to get the BID, the Parks and Rec Department and the Chamber of Commerce on all the same page.”

The business owners said that the downtown events affect their businesses because either people can’t see that they’re open or they simply don’t get a share of the foot traffic.

“To put a vendor that sells jewelry and clothing in front of my store is a little ridiculous,” Brown said.

Brown also said that sometimes the vendor booths completely hide the front of her store, or they cook fragrant food, forcing Brown and other store owners to close their doors.

“People can’t see that we’re open,” Brown said.

Cavin added, “A lot of stores aren’t even open on a Swinging Summer Thursday.”

The West Chester Parks and Recreation Department is responsible for organizing these downtown events, and department chief Keith Kurowski said that the events are supposed to help businesses, not hurt them.

“These events are supposed to bring people back into the town and help businesses,” Kurowski said.  “I would be more than willing to work with the merchants in town to make these events better for them.”

Kurowski added, “West Chester is a great venue for these kinds of events.  We should be able to find a happy medium.”

“We’re the taxpayers [the business owners] not the vendors” Brown said.  “We deserve a little more consideration.”