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Easton seeing post-shutdown interest in city storefronts

By: Stacy Wescoe
July 14, 2020 4:24 pm

PHOTO/COURTESY GREATER EASTON DEVELOPMENT PARTNERSHIP –

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating effect on the small business community and many mom and pop shops did not survive the shutdown and have shuttered for good.

It’s a problem that has weighed heavy on the minds of those in economic development as they watch storefronts close one by one.

But in Easton, Kim Kmetz, manager of the Main Street Initiative, said she is also seeing something she wasn’t sure she could count on – an influx of new business.

“I was afraid with the business closures there wouldn’t be businesses that would want to come in,” she said.

To be sure a number of valuable Easton businesses are now closed for good or moved out of the downtown, but it’s not all bad news.

For example, Unwine with Art, a gift store and wine bar, closed. Kmetz said by the time she contacted the building owner to see if the Main Street program could help, there had already been two showings of the storefront.

Two hair salons did close, but one didn’t stay vacant long as Sweet Girlz bakery used the opportunity to expand into the former space.

In fact, she said the activity is much stronger than she expected.

“Once we went into the yellow phase I have been starting to hear from people again,” she said.

She noted that three new businesses have opened downtown since the city went green.

One of them, ERA The Vintage Shop at 140 Northampton St., had been all ready for its grand opening just as the pandemic began in March and stores were ordered closed. The closure postponed the grand opening until the beginning of July, but it didn’t stop it.

A new hair salon has also opened. Salon Authentic is at 75 N. Fourth St.

One Source Staffing also opened an office at 11 N. Third St.

Manager Erin Traina said One Source had been looking to open an office downtown even before the pandemic, because they saw it as a growing area where businesses would be looking for staff and people would be looking for jobs.

Since the pandemic, she said the need has grown. As businesses reopen they have new staffing needs and many people who lost their jobs over the last few months are looking for new employment.

“There are struggles on both sides. We’re hoping to bridge that gap,” Traina said.

More new businesses are on the horizon according to Kmetz.

CIAO, an Italian deli and sandwich shop hopes to be open by the end of July at 12 N. Third St.

And, tie dye artist NeNe Pender has signed a lease to open a bricks and mortar location at 15 S. Second St. for TrueHue Creations, where she will sell the tie dyed clothing and gift items that she makes.

Kmetz said she hopes to have news about even more businesses looking to locate in downtown Easton soon.

“Most importantly I think it’s refreshing and uplifting to know there is an interest in theses spaces,” she said.

Article courtesy of Lehigh Valley Business


Parking Garage Validation

The new Fourth Street Parking Garage has a system in place that would allow individual businesses to validate and pay for customer parking.
Business owners can enter a portal, type in the customer’s ticket number, and then pay for the parking session on a credit card of choice. The program requires that a pre-paid balance be placed on the credit card so that validations can be deducted from the balance. When the balance reaches zero you can choose to contact the City to replenish the balance on the card. The minimum starting balance will be $100.
If you are interested in receiving a login for the program, please reach out to Dave Hopkins at publicworks@easton-pa.gov.

SBA Declaration Approved for Northampton County

The U.S. Small Business Administration has approved a declaration for the primary county of Northampton as a result of the storms and flash flooding event from July 15 – July 16. All counties included in the declaration are eligible to apply for physical damage SBA loans as well as the Economic Injury Disaster Loans for small businesses.
The Commonwealth is working with Northampton County to determine a site for a Disaster Loan Outreach Center (DLOC) and will provide an update on the location once selected. Click “More” for the declaration and information on the disaster loans that will be available.