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Freeport Merchants Association

Missed a newsletter?

You can find past issues and lots of other important info on the Member Area Page of FreeportUSA.com

Help Wanted… Freeport eClub feature reporter/editor needed. Fun. Great networking opportunity. Nice people to work with. Possible fame. No money. Well, with all that you didn’t think we were going to pay you, too, did you?

Folks are signing up every day for the new Freeport eClub. We need some help gathering interesting articles and putting fun features together for our eClub readers. Freeport eClub will be delivered free to consumers, much the same way you receive the FMA Newsletter. As our virtual way of sharing the Freeport experience with people until they can be here for real, we want the eClub to be entertaining and engaging.

If you’d like to help, or you have a good news item or feature idea, contact the FMA office.

FCIA plans park improvement...

The Freeport Community Improvement Association has unveiled plans to enhance Memorial Park, at the corner of Bow and Park Streets.The planned improvements include Cleaning of the granite monuments, new planting beds, uplighting of the monument and more. These will be great asthetic and safety improvements for residents and visitors alike.

Details will be presented to the town for approval soon. The Hilton Garden Inn will be involved in the project and will provide ongoing utilities and maintainence help for the park's lighting and watering needs. 

Top Picks After 6...

One of the most often asked visitor questions is "What is there to do in Freeport after 6 pm?" It is also something that is very much taken into consideration when folks choose a destination.

While we are diligently working, along with FEDC, retailers,developers and others, on creating more things to do after dusk, there is actually a fair number of thngs to do already. We are developing new ways to point those things out. Part of that will be accomplished through our new and expanded calendar features (see article).

And we are really going to call attention to what to do in Freeport after six with a new landing page on the website called, appropriately enough, "Top Picks After 6!" (Our thanks to Jeannie Carpentier, of Hilton Garden Inn, for coming up with the name.)

The page will feature dining/nightlife types of entertainment, theatre, concerts and other evening entertainment, and of course any retailers that offer shopping hours beyond 6pm. That feature will categorize in an "open til 7:00, open til 8:00, open til 9:00" manner.

This is an additional way to get yopur name in the public and attract new customers. Everyone needs to be pro-active in getting us their store hours and entertainment information, and keeping it current. We're ready to launch this new marketing effort as soon as you all get us your info.
If you have anything happening after 6, let us know asap!

Parkin' it!

It's time to start thinking about our healthy approach to employee parking,now that better weather and more customers are both making their way to Freeport.

There are two health benefits to parking a bit away from your store or business. One is that it's healthier for your business if you are not parked where your customer wants to park. The other is that most all of us could stand a two minute walk to burn off some of that "mucho-chooco- latte" thing we just bought.

It's especially important this year to think of our customers needs. There will be a lot of things happening in Freeport this year, to the long-term advantage of us all. It's critical that we take care of our customers today, while we build for our future. Moving employee parking away from the choice spots is a great way to do that.  Look for more information coming in the near future.


Change, growth and opportunity...

After my last newsletter entry, it would appear that I should not read anything written by Andy Rooney, the curmudgeon of 60 Minutes fame, prior to writing my article. Or so I’ve been told. Some felt that my “Rooney-ish rant” about changing the time being a waste of time was also, well, a waste of time. I remain undaunted. Longfellow had his critics, too.

None-the-less, I’ll talk about something a bit more on mission. I've been thinking a lot about change in recent days. Not the kind of change that you toss into the toll basket - the other kind. There certainly is a lot of change taking place in Freeport these days.

We've made a lot of changes in FMA over the last year and a half or so. I'd like to think that the majority of them were for the good. At least I hope so.

There are two types of changes. The kind you have no control over - like day changes to night or the changes in the seasons, and the changes that you make consciously by choice. Most of those you hope are for the better. I don't know of anyone (and I know some pretty dumb people) who's ever thought "Yep, I'm gonna change that and see if I can't make it worse."

Perhaps the most interesting is that while our enjoyment of the familiar makes us on the one hand resistant to change, our entire advanced civilization and culture is based on constant change and thereby continual improvement.

A lot of the information in this newsletter happens to be about change. The exciting thing is that with change there always comes growth and opportunity.

The door is always open,
Dick

So what's happening???

One of our most popular FMA features is our online Calendar of Events. It is also one of our important marketing tools for showcasing Freeport as a destination with lots of things-to-do offerings. We have just introduced dynamic improvements in the FMA online Calendar of Events, that take it to a new level of usability, convenience and value.

The new calendar puts all events in a sortable and searchable format. It allows the user to choose month, week, day or list views. You can click on an event of interest and a pop-up opens with additional info, event description, directions to the event and links - all without leaving the calendar page.

You can search the calendar by key word, print the entire month or particular event info right from the calendar page, choose what type of events you want displayed, and even ask our "calendar wizard" to email you a reminder about an event of interest!

The exciting new format allows FMA the ability to show a wider range and larger number of events to our visitors. FMA members are welcome to link directly to the FMA Calendar page from their own websites.

Movers and Shakers...

Speaking of change - it's enough to keep track of the building changes and the various stores and divisions moving around so that this could be built where that was and that could move to where this is - and now the people are moving around, too! Honestly, it's like trying to keep kittens in a box. Anyway - here are some noteworthy changes:

Dayna Riley will be leaving Freeport, the FMA Board, oh, and her job at Best Western Freeport Inn & Cafe after some 18 years. :( She is becoming the General Manager of the first Courtyard Marriott Hotel in Maine :) We will miss Dayna very much, and offer a sincere thank you for all the years of dedication  and contribution to FMA and the Freeport community.

Jenn Libbey, General Manager of the Freeport Comfort Suites, will be joining the FMA Board of Directors in Dayna's stead. Jenn brings great enthusiasm and ability to the Board. Jenn will also chair the Membership committee as Dayna had done previously.

Connie Hofacker, store manager at Dooney and Bourke has also been voted onto the FMA Board of Directors. Connie brings strength and stability to the Board. She has more than 18 years experience in retail management for a high-end national designer, and an equal amount of experience as a Freeport merchant. Connie will fill the vacancy left by Kim Grabarz of Norway Savings Bank, who has stepped down to focus on other tasks.

Stephanie Gagnon, store manager at Hartmann for the last few years,is also joining the FMA Board. Stephanie will be filling the board vacancy left by Christina Dargis' advancement and move to Florida for Lenox. Coincidently, Stephanie will also be moving to Lenox as manager of the Freeport Lenox location.

All three of these new board members are purposeful, capable, outgoing, outspoken and energetic. We are delighted at their willingness to advance the mission of FMA!

Switchin' It up some more....

Look for news of an exciting co-op advertising plan between FMA and the new Switch Lifestyle Magazine, especially for our FMA members.

More news coming soon, including Radio Freeport!, coming soon to an iPod, desktop, cellphone or MP3 player near you.
This is the archive copy of Shop Talk, the Freeport Merchants Association Newsletter.

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Our mailing address is:
Freeport Merchants Association 23 Depot Street P.O.Box 452 Freeport, Maine 04032

Our telephone:
207-865-1212

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