Community festivals, events increase exposure for local merchants

Mary Wilmes usually closes up her Greensburg gift shop, Penelope’s, at 5 p.m.

But when there’s a Greensburg Night Market event, she is open until 9. It makes for a long day, but she says it’s worth it.

“It’s been very, very good. It brings a lot of people to town,” said Wilmes, who has owned Penelope’s for six years. “I can see an uptick in new people coming into the store.”

It’s the same for Olivia Grace Fertig in Tarentum, which also has a night market once a month on a Thursday night. Fertig has run her Merle Norman Cosmetics store there for a little more than two years.

“I’ve gotten a lot of new customers from the night market, a lot more walk-in traffic, and I’ve noticed they’ve been coming back to my business after the night market, so it’s not just during that night,” she said.

Greensburg and Tarentum are among communities throughout the region hosting events intended, in part, to support and boost their business communities. The brick-and-mortar merchants are encouraged to keep their doors open later, while most often a mix of vendors, food and music helps draw the crowds.

New Kensington’s Fridays on Fifth, launched in 2021 and which ended its second season in September, has done that, with people lining up at food trucks parked along Fifth Avenue.

A.J. Rassau, owner of the record shop Preserving, said a Fridays on Fifth is usually one of the best nights of the month for him.

“It’s always kind of shocking how many people say they live in New Ken and have been meaning to come for so long, and Fridays on Fifth is the catalyst that brings them in,” he said.

This was the fourth year the Jeannette Business Association staged its concerts and food truck Thursdays, held every other week from July through September.

Although it is not on her block of Clay Avenue, it is close enough to bring in business for Kelly Novoselski, who opened her new and secondhand clothing shop, Phylly Fashions, last year.

“It’s very busy. It’s packed down there,” said Novoselski, who sets up on the sidewalk to catch the attention of potential customers. “It helps bring people into the business who don’t know I’m here.”

As a business owner in New Kensington and an organizer of Fridays on Fifth, Nicole Vigilante is in a unique position to gauge the effectiveness of the event.

“It’s my best night of the month. It certainly brings people back,” said Vigilante, owner of Trovo Co., a vintage home decor shop. “I’ve had people that come in the next day or the next week say they were down here and didn’t have a chance to stop in because it looked really crowded, and they wanted to come back and take their time and look.”

Vigilante said she took note of Greensburg’s market and has participated in Tarentum’s, but she doesn’t know where the trend started.

“All these little towns are trying to find ways to reinvent themselves. Everyone is using whatever method they can to bring people into their city and check it out,” she said. “Malls are kind of dying. People are looking for things to do right in their own community. All of these events cater to that.”

Greensburg’s night market started in 2019 on just half of a block of Pennsylvania Avenue behind the county courthouse. It has grown to fill four blocks of the street.

“Hopefully, it’s benefiting the majority of the businesses that are open downtown during the market,” said Jessica Hickey, owner of the Downtown Greensburg Project and founder of the night market. “I do think people are getting new customers. They might not come back every day or every week, but they are attracting new customers. Our night market is bringing people from all over.”

While several Greensburg business owners spoke highly of the event, including some not on Pennsylvania Avenue, Bortz Hardware owner Gary Adams wanted to be diplomatic in saying it doesn’t help him. Customers can’t park in front of his store when the road is closed for the market.

“I understand it’s for the greater good, but it doesn’t help me at all,” he said. “We’re different. People come in here because something’s broken. They can’t get in and out quick when that’s happening.”

Rather than gaining business, Adams said, he loses some.

“Hopefully, I make it up the next day,” he said.

Unlike the other towns, Greensburg has two events. The Greensburg Business & Professionals Association in April began hosting Third Thursdays, encouraging customers to “shop and stroll” on those days with businesses open until 8 p.m. They run through December, with a different theme each month.

Instead of bringing in outside vendors, Third Thursdays are meant to draw people to storefronts, said association President Amy Beeghly, who owns Beeghly & Co. Jewelers with her husband, Brian.

“It’s been slow going. It’s hard to get the businesses to be open,” she said. “There’s increased interest in shopping local. We’re seeing that in all the communities. We have to show them the charms and benefits of shopping local.”

Dianna Roney, owner of Diamond Antiques in Tarentum, was among the borough’s business owners who started its night market in 2020.

“I think it’s helping to get everybody to realize all of the businesses that we have in town,” she said. “They’re coming back outside the night market to visit.”

Desiree Singleton, owner of Harvest Moon Coffee & Chocolates in Tarentum, who does as much business over a night market’s three hours as an entire day, says the benefit isn’t just for one night.

“I’m getting a lot of repeat business from people who find out about the night market or stumble upon it,” she said. “They’re coming back and becoming everyday customers.”

While some businesses stay open for the food trucks and concerts in Jeannette, most don’t, said Carole Babish, president of the Jeannette Business Association, which has held the event there for four years.

“They don’t expect to get business from this that night,” she said, adding it’s mainly meant to give people something nice to do.

But at the same time, Jeannette is redeveloping, with new businesses coming in and nearly all of the available buildings in the downtown area having been sold. Over time, Babish and others are anticipating they will be fixed up, with retail on the first floors and apartments above.

The event “helps bring a lot of people in from the outside area,” Babish said. “It helps people understand what’s happening in town.”

Alec Italiano opened his Jeannette restaurant, Cafe Italiano, this year. During the event, he serves food on his patio.

“You get benefit from them just from exposure alone,” Italiano said. “I think they are healthy for the community. It brings people downtown, and that’s the most important thing.”

Jeff and Mary Jo DePalma have owned J&J Jewelers in Jeannette for 25 years. They stay open those nights — the amphitheater is just next door — and get some business, but it’s hard to say how many come back other days.

“It brings attention, and it gives you exposure. It shows off the town,” Mary Jo DePalma said. “All in all, it’s good. It showcases the town.”

Italiano said he and his wife went to a Greensburg Night Market and discovered a business they didn’t know was there.

“We checked it out, and we may be back,” he said.

In April, Zack Dreskler took over Dv8 Espresso Bar & Gallery on Pennsylvania Avenue in Greensburg. For the night market, instead of closing at 3, he stays open until 9.

“Those events are great for me. We seem to be steady throughout the night,” he said.

Dreskler said he has had people find his coffee shop for the first time at a Thursday night market and come back Friday morning.

“Greensburg itself is definitely growing,” he said. “I do get repeat customers who found us during the night market and come back.”

Betty DeAngellis has owned Bella Unique Boutique for a dozen years. She stays open late for the night markets.

“As long as there’s people coming in, we’ll stay open,” she said.

DeAngellis said she always sees new people those nights.

“The best thing about the night market is it brings new people into town and introduces them to the stores that stay open,” she said. “Anything helps when you’re in a small town.”