HOW WINTER TEXANS CHANGED OUR APPROACH TO MARKETING DOWNTOWN

April 2015 Main Street Matters

by Cheryl LaBerge, Former Harlingen Main Street Manager

Most Main Street managers have heard the adage, “if you’re only open weekdays between 9 and 5, you’re catering to the unemployed.” And yet, because downtowns are populated by independent businesspeople who set their own hours, many of our businesses are open only during the day.

So, a few years ago, we undertook a concerted effort to market downtown Harlingen to folks who are available between 9 and 5 and, in fact, actually prefer to get out and about while it’s daylight: Winter Texans.

In the Rio Grande Valley, we are blessed with thousands of Winter Texans. The majority of them are retirees who migrate south seasonally from the upper Midwest and Canada. They mostly stay in RV and mobile home parks while in the Valley for one to six months, and are looking for fun things to do. Dining out is among their favorite activities. And, like most retirees, Winter Texans love bargains and discounts.

At Winter Texan shows, amidst booths offering dolphin watch cruises, fresh shrimp, and drawings for free rounds of golf, we soon discovered our basic information on historic Downtown Harlingen was not that compelling. Believe me, it is not only humbling but instructive to discover fun-loving retirees find your product boring. So, we decided to change it up a bit and tap into those Winter Texan interests in dining out and discounts. Pretty soon we were stopping them in their tracks by asking “Would you like some coupons for restaurants in downtown Harlingen?” With this approach, we quickly had a line of folks at our booth, hands out for coupons, and eager to see what other goodies we had to offer.

Now, every fall, we visit restaurants in our district to see if they would like to offer some sort of Winter Texan special. Suggested discounts include: buy one meal, get the second meal half price; free drink with meal; free dessert with purchase of entrée, etc. Then, we use Publisher® to create a page of coupons (with March 31 expiration dates) and print them off colored paper in our office as needed during the season.

We also discovered new BFFs called RV Park Tour and Activity Directors, who are responsible for organizing trips and activities for their residents. We learned that there are dozens of Red Hat Groups who are constantly looking for fun things to do. We felt like we hit pay dirt when we connected with an organization of Red Hat Queens, who are the Red Hat Group leaders.

Yet still the challenge was: how do we get these groups to see downtown as a fun destination? Yes, we have shops, and yes, we have restaurants that offer Winter Texan specials, but what else is there to DO in Downtown Harlingen?

So, we set about creating some activities. We learned that jam sessions are popular in the RV Parks. All types of musicians get together to play folk, gospel, bluegrass, and pop music and many non-musicians show up to listen. So, we decided to try and organize some jam sessions in downtown Harlingen. Since most parks hold jams in a rec hall or activity center, we scouted our downtown businesses for a location with adequate seating, restrooms, etc.

Fortunately, a model railroad clubhouse was about to open on our main street and was eager for publicity. They volunteered to host the jams at no charge. And, as luck would have it, one of their members, Vance Greek, is a musician who played in Branson years ago and is very popular with Winter Texans. Vance and some of his group volunteered to serve as the “house” band for the jams. That ensured that some musicians would be present, and that there would be a sound system so folks could hear the show. Thus, Jammin’ on Jackson with Vance Greek & Friends was born, and has just completed its third season. The jams are generally on the second and fourth Thursday of the month, from November through March, with sessions at 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. Usually 150-200 folks attend each session, which is about 45 minutes long. In between, there is a break for lunch. And, of course, attendees get discount coupons for downtown Harlingen restaurants, all within walking distance of the facility.

Another businessperson volunteered to give free downtown walking tours during Winter Texan season on Saturday mornings, a slow time for his business. So, we offer those now too, every Saturday morning from mid-November through March (except on the first Saturday of the month, which is when we hold Jackson Street Market Days). The tours start at 9 a.m. at Java Café, and last approximately 1.5 hours. On some Saturdays, there might be 30 or 40 participants; other times there are 10-12, and occasionally just 1 or 2 people. And, at the end, guess what? Everyone gets discount coupons for restaurants in the district, many of which they strolled by on the tour.

We also offer free walking tours for groups on weekdays by appointment. Generally, that means one of our downtown restaurants gets 15 to 40 folks for lunch after the tour. Often, they linger downtown in the afternoon for a bit of shopping as well.

In downtown Harlingen, there are several popular activities available. (Top left) Red Hat Groups enjoy their time together at Inner Artist. Large crowds gather to take a downtown walking tour (top right), and (bottom left and right) Segway tours in downtown Harlingen.

We created flyers/posters to promote these new activities: one for the jams and one for the walking tours. Because these activities are sponsored by our downtown district, and are free and open to the public, we found that lots of places were willing to post them on bulletin boards or put stacks on their counters for people to take. We also sent out press releases. The regularity of the events made them easy to include in the community calendar published in our daily newspaper and in weekly publications like the Winter Texan Times. We entered the events in free online calendars available through the Chamber of Commerce and other organizations.

Not all of the activities we promote downtown are free. Last year, we partnered with a new business to offer Segway tours of downtown for small groups with a sense of adventure. By being the first city in our region with Segway tours, we received tons of favorable publicity. And the most common comment? “Gosh, that looks like fun!” This year, many of the Red Hat Groups have been enjoying a new “paint your own canvas/paint your own pottery” business downtown. A creative session at The Inner Artist, a locally owned business modeled on The Tipsy Canvas chain, has become a very popular activity, particularly with those who are unable or reluctant to do a 90-minute walking or three-mile Segway tour.

Now that we have all these different activities downtown, some interesting things have started to happen. Local folks are showing up for the Saturday morning walking tours, because they read about it in the newspaper or heard about it from a friend. Often they are long-time residents who have family or friends visiting from out of town and are looking for ways to entertain them. Sometimes we get folks who have just moved here and are eager to learn about their new community. Local families are booking Segway tours of downtown Harlingen, too. And The Inner Artist is becoming a popular place to hold bridal showers and birthday parties.

The real lesson in all of this is that we’ve become much more activity-oriented in all of our downtown marketing, for locals as well as retirees. Our new Downtown Harlingen brochure emphasizes events and activities. Yes, there are those folks that will seek out Main Street districts because they love historic architecture and unique, locally owned shops. But the majority of people are looking for things to do and, most importantly, they want to know what there is to do that is fun!

Our downtown–and your downtown–will become a more popular destination if it’s perceived as fun. Most people enjoy going out to eat or listening to live music. For some people, a walking tour is fun. For many, a Segway tour is a blast. A “girls night out” sipping wine and learning to paint is pretty cool too. You get the point. Most people have limited amounts of leisure time and lots of options as to how they spend it. Your downtown will start to get some buzz if there are fun things to do there.

So, consider taking a few tips from those fun-loving Winter Texans. Try reworking your marketing materials from lists of what you have in your district to descriptions of what there is to do there. Make it easy for people to enjoy your downtown.

And, if your restaurants are willing, throw in some coupons. That little “something extra” just might be the hook that entices folks to visit your historic city center.