Survey: Food, events attract shoppers to downtown

An online survey of more than 550 shoppers reveals that food attracts people to downtown Chambersburg, whether it’s a moderately priced meal at a nice restaurant or events such as AppleFest.
The shoppers’ top choice for a new business downtown is also food-related. Fifty-seven percent chose bakery as the business they would patronize if available, followed by a shoe store (32%) and a butcher shop (23%). A kitchen/home store finished a close fourth in the survey, at 22%.
Downtown Chambersburg Inc., an affiliate of the Greater Chambersburg Chamber of Commerce, will use the survey and other market research to help guide its efforts to recruit businesses to downtown.
“Coupling a meal with shopping or entertainment of some sort is one of the preferred experiences that people seek when they visit,” said Jessica Walter, a member of the DCI Economic Development Committee. Thirteen percent of the respondents said they eat in downtown Chambersburg at least once a week, and another 5% said they eat downtown two to four times a week.
In response to the question of how often they eat out, 32% said they eat dinner outside their home two to four times a week, 24% eat lunch outside the home two to four times a week and 3.5% eat breakfast outside the home that frequently. Almost 40% of the respondents said they would like to see a late night eating/drinking establishment, and 21% would like to see a seafood restaurant open in downtown Chambersburg. The majority of respondents live 5-10 minutes from downtown.
“The opportunity for more restaurants is there. That would be a draw,” said Noel Purdy, president of DCI.
The survey also validated the desire for events. “Events like IceFest are important to downtown businesses,” according to Purdy. IceFest was chosen at the most popular event, followed by AppleFest and the holiday parade in November. First Friday activities and the North Square Farmers Market also are popular attractions. Fifty-four percent said they’d like to see a concert/performance venue developed.
“What we also found in the research was an overwhelming admiration for the unique charm of downtown Chambersburg. People enjoy the history and the architecture as well as the small-town feel,” Walter added.
While a majority of the respondents (39%) said they like the look and feel of downtown, 28% said they do not feel safe there at night. Despite the safety concern, however, 80% said they’d like to see businesses open after 5 p.m.
“Some of the sources we used include a consumer survey, a market analysis, a trade area analysis, a retail opportunity gap analysis, and customer profiles,” Walter said. “When you look at the composite of the findings from that data, you can see who is likely to come downtown, what they want to do while they’re here, how much they’re willing to spend, and how far they’ll drive to get here.
“Now that we have the insight provided by each of these sources, we can confidently move forward with establishing priorities for developing downtown Chambersburg. One of the first steps is to recruit businesses that will fit in with the downtown experience we’re trying to create,” Walter said.
“People see downtown as unique, historical and charming. Those are qualities that we need to use in our strategy to revitalize downtown,” Purdy added