Second Saturday on Beacon’s Main Street Promotion boosts foot traffic and cash registers BY KATHY KAHN

Second Saturday on Beacon’s Main Street
Promotion boosts foot traffic and cash registers
BY KATHY KAHN

Cities along the Hudson River have been rejuvenating their business districts by celebrating shops and restaurants on a selected Saturday (www.artalongthehudson.com) each month. Stores and galleries keeps their doors open late each Saturday. April 14 was Beacon’s “Second Saturday” event, designed to showcase its growing art and restaurant thoroughfare.

Residents and visitors shop Beacon’s Main Street on Second Saturday, when stores, galleries and restaurants remain open until 9 p.m.

Even Mother Nature cooperated, holding back her powerful Nor’easter the next day that left thousands without power and basements flooded throughout the nine-county Hudson Valley region.

Shop owners along Beacon’s Main Street say the monthly event has not only helped boost foot traffic but has helped cash registers ring out a bit more frequently.

While some, like Iron Fish Trading Co. owner Mark Roland, are not tracking the numbers on second Saturdays, the owners of Hudson Beach Glass say they have been measuring not just foot traffic but the positive financial impact of the tourism promotion on their business. It’s paying off for them to keep doors open until 9 p.m., rather than their usual 6 p.m. closing time.

From tiny hummingbirds to dishes and glassware, each piece has a unique

signature, something two of the store’s four co-owners, Joan and John Gilvey, take particular pride in. Visitors can watch blobs of white hot glass become colorful works of art in their adjoining workroom. The shop sells its own pieces as well as those of other glass blowers.

ENTREPRENEURS BENEFIT

The Gilveys bought the old Tompkins Hose Fire Co. five years ago, going through the process of taking a 108 loan guarantee through Dutchess County’s HUD, “but it took three years,” said Gilvey, “so while we were waiting, we were borrowing privately to renovate.” In their unique industry for more than 30 years, this is their first retail store and the Gilveys say Beacon’s Main Street is blossoming before their eyes.

“We are very fortunate because we hold public exhibitions to watch the glass-blowing process in action, so we are able to have a sign on the highway directing people to visit Hudson Beach Glass and we pay a yearly fee for that, worth every nickel,” says Gilvey. “But giving credit where credit is due, Dia: Beacon was the catalyst for the renaissance, drawing all the new art galleries, shops and restaurants that have come in since it opened. The city of Beacon (www.cityofbeacon.org) has been a real partner to the art community by renovating the old high school into space for artists of all genres … it’s made a serious commitment to making this an artist-friendly place,” says John Gilvey.

Second Saturday has been a real boost for new entrepreneur Shirley Hot, who was head chef at The Cup & Saucer and decided to buy the place when the owner put it up for sale two months ago. “Yes, it is nerve-wracking,” admits Hot, a native of Great Britain who is accustomed to a 4 p.m. ‘cuppa’ and loves the idea of owning her own tea shoppe. As a first-time business owner, she is concerned about using the equity of her home to raise the capital to buy the shop, but says negotiations were so last minute she didn’t have time to make a better plan. Now, she’ll look at some creative financing through the U.S. Small Business Administration and the Southern Dutchess Chamber of Commerce. “I jumped on the opportunity to become part of this downtown area,” says Hot, “and people seem to like coming here to shop, browse and stop in for something to eat.”

Helping to accelerate economic interest in the city’s business district is its inclusion in the Poughkeepsie-Dutchess Empire Zone. The Beacon Economic Development Task Force is working with the Dutchess County Economic Development Corp. (www.dcedc.com) to get more information on the zone and its benefits out to potential entrepreneurs and established businesses. The Greater Southern Dutchess Chamber of Commerce (www.gsdcc.org) has been helping new or existing small-business owners navigate the Empire Zone requirements.

Shoppers visit popular Hudson Beach Glass, which has become a draw for tourists to the city’s Main Street.

A bevy of elected officials kicked off the relaunch of trolley service, April 20, for every Saturday and Sunday. The connection between the Metro-North train station at the foot of the Hudson River to Beacon’s Main Street will contribute to making Beacon a destination, by running the trolley service every weekend and keeping it running until 8:30 p.m. on the city’s second Saturdays through Oct. 31.

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