Downtown in need of local support

Port Washington’s usually bustling downtown was missing one thing this past year — local residents patronizing the shops in the heart of the community.

Port Main Street Inc. Executive Director Kristina Tadeo said last month that while 2024 was a good year for restaurants and bars in the downtown, other businesses had sales that lagged previous years.

“The local shops, not 100% but pretty universally, had a difficult sales year,” Tadeo said.

Data compiled by Main Street showed that traffic and sales was up on weekends, when tourists often patronize downtown shops, but during the week, when local and area residents generally shop, traffic was down.

“It was the local and near region zip codes that had fallen off the most,” she said. “What we can surmise is our locals aren’t coming downtown and shopping as much.”

And that significantly affects downtown, Tadeo said.

“Our small retailers are really suffering,” she said.

While some people may see this as a reason downtown has, for the first time in many years, numerous vacancies, that isn’t necessarily the case, Tadeo said.

For example, Zing Boutique closed because its owners retired, she said. Other reasons some shops closed include health issues and burnout.

The reasons business has fallen off are many, Tadeo said.

“I think there’s a lot at play,” she said. “Prices are higher, and people perceive their spending power as less.

“It was an election year, and there’s always a downturn in an election year. People are less certain about what’s going to happen.

“And we had a very slow start to 2025. It’s always slow in January because people spent their money at the holidays, but it was noticeably slower this year. The economic conditions in the country are still there, and all the tariff talk — it led to a very dismal January.”

And, she said, shops have to continually “recalibrate” their offerings to compete with online businesses “to make sure the experiences are there that people want to come downtown for.”

Tadeo noted that when Main Street held its annual summit in January, the lagging sales was a major talking point.

But, she added, Port isn’t alone in this matter.

“In talking to other communities, it is not just Port Washington this is happening to,” she said. “It’s happening all over.”

The Main Street program is aimed at energizing and strengthening older, historic downtowns, and Tadeo said Port Main Street Inc. is looking at a variety of ways to help local businesses.

“We’re definitely doing some new marketing campaigns,” she said. “What we’re hearing loud and clear is we need to go back to more traditional marketing platforms.”
That includes print media advertising and direct mailings to tell people about the events and shops in downtown, she said, as well as video programs for social media that will highlight what local shops have to offer.

“We’re trying to do a better job of showing people, ‘Here’s where you can go for experiences,’” Tadeo said.

Main Street is looking at survey and focus group data to determine what else it can do, including whether more or less events should be held to lure shoppers, Tadeo said, adding Main Street has also allocated some funds for new projects.

“I see Main Street’s role, our No. 1 priority, is marketing within our region and working with Tourism (the Tourism Council) for other marketing,” she said.

Attracting local residents is an important aspect of Main Street’s mission, Tadeo said.

“We want the tourists, the vacationers, the day-trippers,” she said. “Our historic downtown comes up as No. 1 or 2 as to what draws people here.

“But it’s important to bring our local residents downtown too. These are the people our businesses depend on all year round. As a downtown, we need to make sure what we have downtown is what our locals also need, not just what our tourists need.”

Port’s downtown has a good mix of businesses, Tadeo said.

“We have cool, unique mom-and-pop businesses,” she said. “You want to see them be successful.

“I think the long-term health of our downtown is good. I think we have good bones, a great foundation. The great news for downtown Port and Port in general is there’s still a great amount of interest in Port. All things are pointing in the right direction.

“We just have to rally around our downtown businesses. I hope people will think of downtown Port when planning their shopping.”