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When a business becomes a destination.
"We have a lot of people that drive here from far away."
That's just about every business owners' dream come true.
And for Linda Schneewind, her downtown Northfield shop 'Digs' has become a destination.
Thanks in part, says Schneewind, because of the one-of-a-kind merchandise shoppers can find
in her store.
"So we really try to scour for vintage, small-quantity, small-artist items."
The success of stores like 'Digs' is also thanks to help from University
of Minnesota researchers, like Bruce Schwartau.
"Unique products are one way to bring in people from the edge of town to downtown.
Another way?
Having a strong Web presence."
"Hi, I'm Keely, with the Rochester Convention and Visitor's Bureau."
Things like Facebook pages and Youtube channels might not be the first thing that comes to mind
when you think of a historic downtown like you'll find in Northfield ...but Schwartau,
a U of M Extension Educator, says business owners need those tools to be successful.
"One town that I recently visited, they now do a Youtube video where every week they're going out
and saying "here's what's happening in our community."
Schwartau and his colleagues at the U of M have been conducting research on everything
from consumers' habits "We're looking at who lives in the town,
what types of things do they buy and what other things do they do?"
to what types of advertising works best ...to making sure a business is up-to-date
on popular Internet search engines.
"It's also really good to be sure that you've got all your information
on products like Mapquest and Google Maps.
So that if someone is trying to find your business,
they actually get to the right location."
In Northfield, business is now intertwined
with the World Wide Web ...and Linda Schneewind has the numbers to prove it works.
"On the Web we sell things like fabric, ribbon,
that we have multiple yards of, so we sell all over the world."
and bring the money straight into downtown Northfield.
For the University of Minnesota, I'm Justin Ware.