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 Emporia Main Street Calendar of Events 

November 16

Emporia Main Street Board Meeting

8:00 a.m. in the Emporia Main Street office.

November 30

All Committee Meeting

8:00 a.m. in the Emporia Main Street office
 

December 1

Horse Drawn Carriage Rides

700 Block of Merchant

December 3

Breakfast with Santa

9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at the Emporia Public Library

December 6

Quarter Mania

Granada Theatre

Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and the event starts at 6:30 p.m.

December 7th

Board Meeting

8:00 a.m. in the Emporia Main Street office. 

December 8

Midnight Madness

8:00 p.m. until Midnight

Horse Drawn Carriage Rides

700 Block of Merchant

December 14

Promotions Meeting

8:00 a.m. in the Emporia Main Street office

Design Committee Meeting

noon in the Emporia Main Street office

December 15-17

Kris Kringle's Kids Shoppe

December 15

Horse Drawn Carriage Rides

December 21

Board Meeting

8:00 a.m. in the Emporia Main Street office.

December 22

Horse Drawn Carriage Rides

December 28

Business Enhancement Meeting

8:00 a.m. in the Emporia Main Street office

Home Based Meeting

12:30 p.m. in the Emporia Main Street office.

January 7th

Granada Bridal and Prom Expo

noon in the Granada Theatre.

Benefactors 

The City of Emporia

Lyon County

Bobby D's BBQ

Caribbean Sun Tanning

CoreFirst Bank & Trust

The Emporia Gazette

ESB Financial

Emporia's Radio

StationsKVOE, 104.9, Country 101.7

Longbine Auto Plaza

Roberts Blue Barnett Funeral Home

T2 Verizon Wireless

AKA Marketing/The Sports Fan

Amanda's Bakery

Applebee's

Ash, LLC.

Atherton & Huth Attorney at Law

Barden & Thompson

Bath Expressions

Bennett Dental Group

Best Western Hospitality House

Black Heart Cherry

Brown's Shoe Fit Co.

C & J Woodworks

Cable One

Cable One Advertising

Capitol Federal

Cassell Insurance

Chester Press, Inc.

Clark Carpet & Tile

Coffelt Sign Co. 

Commercial Street Diner

Complete Works

Country Mart/Price Chopper

Dan's Hands

Dorsey & Wise Family Eye Care

Douglas Chiropractic Center

Dynamic Disks

Emporia Chamber of Commerce

Emporia State Federal Credit Union

ESU Memorial Union

E-Town Solutions

First Community Bank

Flint Hills Eye Care Associates

Flint Hills Lanes

Flint Hills Music

Flint Hills Tech College

Flint Hills Mall

Forget Me Not Productions

Four Seasons Apartments

Furniture Loft

Genesis Health Club

George Groh & Sons

Gerald Schumann Electric

Glendo

Granada Coffee Company

Granada Plaza & Lofts

Graves Drug Store

Hair Krafters

Helbert & Allemang Attorney's at Law

High Gear Cyclery

Hornet Residential

IM Design Group

Java Cat 5

Jimmy John's

Kansas Radio 96.1 The Wave

KISS 103.1

Krueger & Williams Law Office

L & L Pets

Little Acorns

Little Caesers Pizza

Lyon County State Bank

Lyon County Title

Marion National Bank

Mark II Lumber

Mathis Physical Therapy

McDonald's on 6th Ave.

McKinzie Pest Control

Menu Foods Midwest Corp.

Midas Touch Golden Tans

Modern Air Conditioning

Muckenthaler, Inc.

Nature's Paradise

Navrat's Office Products

Pizza Ranch

Plum Bazaar

Poehler Mercantile

Pool & Wright

Prairie Sage Apartments

Prairie Land Partners

Pro Cuts

Pyramid Pizza

Redi Upholstry

Redline Trucking

Ru Yi

Sauder Custom Fabrication

Scheller's Lawn & Landscape

Simmons Pet Food

SS Graham Insurance Agency

Stanley Jewelry

Studio 11

Subway

Sunflower Gymnastics

Symmonds & Symmonds Attorney at Law

The Help Desk

The Henrikson Team

The Medicine Shoppe

The Sweet Granada

The Villiger

The White Rose Inn

Thompson Auto Repair

Toso Appraisal Service

Total Technology, LLC

Town Crier Bookstore

Town Royal

Water's True Value

Westar Energy

Wheat State Pizza

Williams Automotive

 Big Brothers Big Sisters

Community Theatre of Emporia

Corner House

Emporia Arts Council

Emporia Farmer's Market

Emporia Granada Theatre Alliance

Emporia High School Future Business Leaders of America

Emporia Public Library

ESU Foundation

Small Business Development Center

First Presbyterian Church

Flint Hills Optimists Club

Jayhawk Area Council (Scouts)

Lyon County Historical Society

National Teachers Hall of Fame

Plumb Place

The United Way 

Boyzen Bunny Fiber Arts- Tracey Graham

Energy Innovators

Family Jewels-

Leticia Rust

Gold Canyon Candle- Stephanie Morgan

Green Door Recycling- Amy Becker

Independant Longaberger Consultant- Judith Dieker

Interdependent Web- Ben Stallings

Joe the Furniture Doctor- Joe Kurzen

Kynda Kreative- Amanda Mendoza

Mary Kay- Brenda Braynard

Pampered Chef- Chelsea Gerleman

Patti Cakes- Patti Lipson

Paula's Creations

Paula Roper

Premier Designs Jewelry- Nikki Simmons

RossTography

Mike Ross

Scentsy- Deann Rose

Stampin-Up

Darcy Johnson

Tastefully Simple- Vanessa Apodaca 

Anne Strobel

Brad Harzman

Dale and Carolyn Davis

Erin Woods

Julie Johnson

Kayla Oney

Mark & Amy McAnarney

Mary & Tim Helmer

Matt & Val Zimmerman

Pam & Fred Stephenson

Peggy Mast

Rob Gilligan

Sue Blechl

Victoria Partridge 

Emporia Main Street E- Newsletter

Introducing our Red Ribbon Merchants this season. These businesses will have thier doors decorated showing their commitment to shopping local this season. Why not drop in and check them out?

Bath Expressions, The Emporia Arts Council, Forget Me Not, Graves Drug Store, Plum Bazaar, Poehler Mercantile, Stanley Jewelry, Studio 11, Town Crier, Lyon County Title, L & L Pets, Complete Works and Dan's Hands and Pro Cuts.

Midnignt Madness

December 8th from 8:00 p.m. until Midnight

The map showing the busineesses will be printed soon so get your business signed up today!

Businesses currently signed up to participate include: Town Crier, Waters True Value, The Place to Be, Joe the Furniture Doctor, Pampered Chef, Furniture Loft, Sweet Granada, Granada Coffee Company, Plum Bazaar, Dynamic Discs, Complete Works, KISS 103.1, Bath Expressions, Total Technologies, Studio 11, Paula's Creations, L & L Pets, Body by Vi, Emporia Arts Council, Purse Lady, Premier Jewelry, The City Golf Course, Mukenthalers, AKA the Sports Fan, Brown's, Flint Hills Music, Forget Me Not, Scentsy, Longaberger, Tastefully Simple and the Granada Theatre.

To sign up, click HERE!

Quarter Mania

The Next Quarter Mania is December 6th at the Granada Theatre.  Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and the event starts at 6:30 p.m.  If you want to become a participating vendor, please contact Emporia Main Street Events Coordinator Becky Smith at 620-340-6430 or main.street@emporia-kansas.gov .

Breakfast with Santa

December 3rd, 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at the Emporia Public Library.  Bring your kids for breakfast, arts & crafts, story time and a chance to meet the big guy: SANTA CLAUS!!!

Window decorating contest 

Currently, Bath Expressions, Town Crier Bookstore, Navrats, Complete Works, Java Cat and Plum Bazaar are signed up to participate.

Click HERE to sign up!

Kris Kringle's Kids Shoppe

December 15-17 at 725 Commercial Street.  Red Ribbon Merchants can provide goods at $10 and under in a shopping environment just for kids!  Kids can shop for parent's, grand parents, teachers, siblings or anyone else on their wish list!

Selling goes beyond "SALES".

Although highly augmented, this downtown building still exists.  Do you know where?

 Sharing those unique qualities that make your organization "special" with your staff, your customers and the public and improve your brand awareness, increase traffic and improve your bottom line.

It doesn't matter what type of organization you are in, you sell something.  It may be a service, a concept or a product, but you are still responsible for selling.  The problem is, most of us get so caught up in promoting "sales" and special events that we forget the most important message we can promote to the public: who we are, and why our business/organization is special.

Think about this for a second: people can obtain several types of products and services at the click of a button.  Emporia is about one hour from most large metropolitan centers in Kansas.  It doesn't matter if we are talking about car loans or clothing, life insurance or lolly pops, health care or high-tops, education or eateries...  People have options.  Beyond the fact that you are a heck of a nice person and people should naturally just give you money, why should consumers spend with you?  Why should people care about your business?  Below are a few tips to help you engage with your customer base all year long:

1.  Share your history.  Have an older building?  Click HERE to see if your building's original picture exists.  Click HERE if you have a downtown building to view your buildings architectural and use history.  How did you start?  What are your accomplishments?  Once you determine how to share your history in an engaging fashion with your employees, you can build more organizational pride.  Once you share with your customers, you can build "word of mouth" advertising "advocates".  Once you share with the public, they will "get" your importance.

2.  You are the (insert adjective) business in the (insert geographic region).  Whether you are the only business that has a certain type of repair equipment in the area, you have a unique business type for eastern Kansas or you have the largest selection of a certain product category in the area, please share that information!!!  Now, if you are reading this and find yourself saying "I'm just like everyone else", we need to talk QUICKLY.  Unique market positioning is a must in today's market.  While you may offer more services or products, dominating a niche gives you a foothold into other consumer markets.

3.  Share your category importance.  Are you a small business?  Did you realize that locally owned

Bike classes at High Gear have resulted in Bike purchases at High Gear.

businesses have eight times the positive market impact of a large multi-national chain?  So, your three person operation has the market impact of a 24 person faceless chain...  You support local advertisers, bank locally, have a local accountant, get your insurance locally and donate a higher percentage of your gross income to local charities...  Hmmmm...  I wonder if you should share that?  For all types of businesses, you can share a local competitive advantage.  You use this advantage as a way to REINFORCE the sale, and create shopping advocates, not as a way to brow beat the public.  However, mass campaigns you share with your neighbors can create positive peer pressure.  Why is your business important to the local economy, to local charities and to the local area?

4.  Share your expertise.  A service is just a service and a product is just a product without expertise.  In an era where people can obtain products and services anywhere and at any time, a lack of interaction and expertise can lead to customers shopping or obtaining services elsewhere.  In your advertising, share a bit of your expertise in helpful tips that relate to your industry.  A yoga studio could share a "pose of the day", an office supply store could share time saving tips, a physical therapy office could share information on why heat or cold is helpful to a certain ache or pain...  Sharing your expertise helps consumers associate your business with a certain activity, creating "top of mind" awareness.

5.  Realize that modern "networking" has fundamentally changed.  Thirty years ago, businesses would meet at a mixer, have a few drinks and conduct business.  While financial services and a few

Main Street & the Emporia Gazette teamed up to teach a recent social Media class.

other unique business types can still take advantage of the group "mixer", most businesses have to interact with the consuming public in a different manner that gains a lot more bang for their buck and exposes them to a different crowd.  Picking a cause, getting involved in social media or participating in group events (like Midnight Madness) that actually bring people to your location are generally much more beneficial to your bottom line.  Hanging out with and making new friends is nice, but it is an informal business activity.  Businesses and organizations must adapt to modern communications models to attract modern customers.

6.  Don't take it for granted that people know who you are and what you do.  About 1/3 of our community turns over every five years.  It doesn't matter that you've been here for 20 years...  I guarantee there are some people that don't know who you are and haven't set foot in your building.  Stay aggressive in your traditional marketing efforts.

7.  Follow up.  The best way to improve sales and

Always collect customer information.

customer traffic is to market to existing customers.  Hands down.  How do you follow up with your customers?  How do you encourage them to utilize your business more often, use other products/services, share your business with others?  Answering those questions can lead to a more successful & profitable  business QUICKLY.

8.  Testimonials. - Share what people think of you.  Share it on a testimonial board in your business.  Share it on-line through social media.  Share it in your general advertising.  Of course you think your business is great, but sharing what your customers think is magnified advertising.  Of course, you need some way to collect what your customers think, so we put together a handy Customer Feedback Survey for you...  CLICK HERE!  Remember, we can't grow if we don't listen.

9.  Internal locus of control. In an external locus of control, an individual feels that they can't do something because of some outside force.  "I can't get

The Midnight Madness concept was a risk, but instead of asking customers to adapt their shopping hours, merchants adapted to the customer.

new customers because I'm within eye shot of a gross building."  "My staff won't do what they need to for me to be successful".  "I just don't have the time/money/energy to make changes."  "If only we had a ____, my business would be better."  "It's the community's fault I'm not more successful."  "We've been around a LONG time, who do these new guys think they are???  They should conform to our standard..."  Here's the thing: control the things that you can control.  Improve the things that you can improve.  Make sure those things that are outside of your control are REALLY outside of your control.  Make sure that you aren't just making excuses to justify under-performance.  Once you identify and work to solve internal problems, you generally gain more staff buy in, show yourself as a responsive business owner and can take advantage of a changing market place.  It is within your control.

We have some really cool and unique businesses in Emporia.  That's great from the standpoint that we can provide different goods and services than you will find in the larger geographic region, but it's a harder image to sell to a public bombarded with homogenous brands.  Take the time to explain to your staff, your customers and the community what makes you special.  Once you do that, your business will make more "sense" to the public, you will build advocates and you will see more support, traffic and sales- just in time for the holiday season...

Contact your advertisers.  Coordinate your social media campaign (don't know how???, contact Main Street for help), and print those internal usage items that showcase your unique importance (contact a graphic designer for help).

Last week we advocated on behalf of a local developer adding a couple of new businesses downtown with city management, engineering and code officials (more info later), we met with USDA and Network Kansas

The Anderson Library, one of two Carnegie Libraries in Emporia, serves as the 2011 Holiday Ornament.  In stock now for a $10 suggested donation!

officials to develop new financial tools for local businesses looking to start or expand in the Emporia area, we solidified some holiday advertising, we toured downtown with a Presidential Candidate's spouse from ESU, we held a Promotions Meeting, met with leadership behind the local "Retail Committee", held a Design Committee Meeting, set up elements of an upcoming press conference, hosted a passenger rail meeting, worked on tax credit forms for a local development, spoke at an ESU LEAD meeting at the Granada Theatre, talked through a large development activity with a local development group and released some historic photos for potential redevelopment activities in downtown.  It was another productive week, with some good questions from all of you!...

1.  "Why don't you just move (insert business category) downtown?"  From some ESU Students.  This is a question that we sometimes get that indicates the desire from consumers for existing businesses to relocate downtown.  Clothing stores, electronics, bars and restaurants are the categories we generally hear.  Because we hear these calls quite often, it bodes well for new developments like the Kellogg Plaza and Lofts (there is demand), but it also showcases two community problems: 1. People have a skewed view of the development process and believe it is an easy, short term proposition.  2.  The lack of a cohesive development plan grounded in reality has induced sprawl in the Emporia area, and that reality doesn't have an easy/short term fix.  I wish I could move businesses around like puzzle pieces sometimes, but I just can't.  It takes significant time to build nodes into recognizable districts, but even undergraduates understand the potential for downtown development, which is a good thing... 

2.  "Would you be willing to help chair some community planning efforts?"  From a community leader. Community Initiated Development is an effective form of Community Planning that we need to create a successful Emporia in the long term.  Business clusters vastly improve the positive economic impact for new and existing businesses through improved "pull" and shared consumer demographic groups.  I would, however, like to see us complete the CID plan for downtown so we can use that plan as a template for other areas of the community, and I look forward to working with the city and other groups to make that happen.

3.  "How can people be bored here?"  At the opening party for an expanding business downtown. Boring people are easily bored.  There are a ton of things to do in Emporia (we have two big concerts, art openings, new business openings, athletic events and a ton of other activities happening JUST THIS WEEK).  Part of the issue is getting information about what's going on to the people.  The local media does a good job, a large amount of events are posted on social media and there are organizations like Main Street that can answer the "What's there to do?" questions.  We can always do better, and we do have plans to introduce new forms of communication.  BUT, individuals in a community must also take some responsibility.  There are things to do in Emporia, businesses to shop at and places of interest to go, but if individuals aren't willing to explore, get involved or try something new, they will obviously get bored.  This Saturday at Studio 11's new location opening party, I got the chance to hang out with cool people while listening to awesome local music in a great shopping environment.  The Emporia Arts Council had the "Nitty Gritty Dirt Band" play Monday (and more events and art shows coming up).  The Granada Theatre has "The White Ghost Shivers" playing on Wednesday and a series of movies and concerts on the horizon.  ESU Athletics is in full swing, there are a BUNCH of holiday events on the horizon, we've added a lot of new local businesses recently...  So, although the community can always do better, if are consistently bored, maybe it's just you...  To make a change, why not contact Emporia Main Street and get involved?      

4.  "Can you do some training with my staff?" From a local business on the 6th Street corridor. Individual consulting is often more effective than group learning sessions (unless everyone is in the same industry).  Part of your membership covers individual consulting, so I answered "yes" to this business as I would answer "yes" to any member.

5. "How important do you think this next Presidential hire is?"  From an individual associated with Emporia State University. I believe the next hire is critical to the success of ESU and the Emporia Community.  The next President must understand the reality of our community and area to integrate the community and university together as we both strive for success.  They must adapt to changes in the educational marketplace and move the university forward in a unique manner.  So far, we've seen two candidates, and we look forward to meeting the next two.  One candidate I was very impressed with, and one sent up a couple of red flags, so I'm excited to meet our next two community options!