Project information
The 2009 reconstruction of downtown Marshfield's South Central Avenue closed Marshfield's main street to pedestrian and vehicle traffic for four months. With dozens of businesses lining the street, a complete road closure could significantly impact each business's bottom line.
Strategically placed signs direct drivers to open businesses downtown
A billboard tied to the "Marshfield Digs Progress!" advertisements alerts potential customers to open business
Working together
Main Street Marshfield created a committee to plan for construction impacts. The committee included representatives of the Marshfield Area Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the City of Marshfield and business and community members.
Planning ahead
During construction, storefronts were inaccessible, requiring businesses to spruce up their back entrances. Businesses without a back entrance worked with construction staff to make sure customers could still get to their establishments. Main Street Marshfield encouraged businesses to improve their alternate entrances, and offered loans and grants to help businesses prepare the entrances.
Parking was a primary concern once construction began. To address this, the city added parking and extended time limits in parking lots. Parking was added to side streets. Signs were placed in the lots, indicating which businesses were nearby. Maps of the interim parking plan were available at businesses and online.
Keeping customers informed
The committee came up with several strategies to make sure customers knew it was possible to get to downtown stores, even though the road was closed. They developed print, television, and radio ads to remind customers to "Shop Downtown Marshfield."
Main Street Marshfield funded print, radio, and television advertising featuring a construction ant and the slogan, "Marshfield Digs Progress!" Their advertising also reminded shoppers that, "It's Right Here!" in downtown Marshfield.
Signs were an important element of communication efforts. Special signs were developed to direct motorists and customers to the downtown businesses, including "Marshfield Digs Progress!" signs.
In addition to the general advertising, Main Street Marshfield and the Chamber included construction updates in their monthly newsletters. The Chamber offered free advertising in their newsletter for businesses affected by construction, and the local newspaper featured an impacted business each week to give them more exposure. The City of Marshfield created a construction page on its website, and many businesses used the internet and their own web sites to prepare customers for construction.
Bringing customers downtown with coupons and special events
To complement the ad campaign, Main Street Marshfield created a "Marshfield Digs Progress!" coupon book featuring coupons, raffle tickets, and gift certificates for 34 downtown businesses. The coupon book was available at all downtown stores. Three well-attended brat fries with big-ticket raffles were held downtown.
Key Takeaways:
Planning with stakeholders, clear signage, an extensive and creative advertising campaign and special events allowed businesses to thrive during road work.
Project documents