Jun 21, 2009

Downtowns spruce up to boost businessBy Lorraine AshDailyRecord.com

Main Streets in Morris County are innovating behind the scenes to retain the businesses they have and recruit new ones as the recession plays out in reduced store sales and rising office vacancy rates.

An informal survey of Morris county towns conducted by the Daily Record found sales down 10 to 50 percent and office vacancy rates of 6 to 20 percent. A total of 23.3 percent of office space in the county was vacant in the first quarter, according to the Morris County Economic Development Corp.

“Thirteen thousand square feet are under construction,” said Maggie Peters, executive director. “We’re doing better than some other counties, but usually we’re looking at 40,000 under construction. Or more.”

With one eye on the statistics and another envisioning better times, downtowns are coming up with philosophies and strategies to bridge the gap. Here is a field report from three different downtowns: Boonton, Chester and Madison.

Read complete article.