ThisWeek UA 03/31/2011
The Upper Arlington Area Chamber of Commerce is hoping to sew some entrepreneurial seeds this spring with their May 7 Community Marketplace event.
“The event encourages the promotion and support of the Upper Arlington business community, entrepreneurial spirit and community awareness,” event chair Doug Ryan said.
The first-ever event takes place beginning at 9 a.m. on Saturday, May 7, and online registration for marketing and promotional support is now available at www.uachamber.org.
For $5, residents will receive a listing in the chamber’s event guide and the option of a Community Marketplace yard sign available at the chamber. The guides and other event information will be available online and at participating local merchants.
The Community Marketplace event will expand on the idea of the neighborhood-wide garage sale, chamber president Becky Hajost said, by encouraging resident, local business and community organization participation.
“The chamber will provide marketing for this branded event including online guides directing visitors to residential and business participants,” Hajost said. “If even just 1-percent of homes participate, that’s about 120 sales going on at once, plus our business partners, so this will be a great opportunity to bring in a lot of revenue to our community.”
Hajost sees this event as a chance for families to teach their children about business, get neighbors back in touch with one another and reduce the amount of trash Upper Arlington residents and businesses send to the landfill, by providing gently used goods to others at greatly reduced prices.
All residents are invited to participate, regardless of whether they register with the chamber or not, according to a chamber press release.
Participating local businesses will have sidewalk sales and special promotions. The chamber encourages participants to reinvest a portion of their own proceeds back into the community by shopping or dining locally during the weekend.
The chamber is working with the city to provide participants with proper city ordinance guidelines to follow when holding garage sales in the city for the event, chamber board member Edie Rader Blough said.
Event organizers hope that, as word spreads, residents and business owners will get creative with their offerings, going beyond just garage sales. According to Blough, several realtors are already planning to showcase homes for sale during the event, and she hopes that charities consider taking advantage of the increase in visitors to the city as well.
“U.A. is a unique place, so let’s do something unique,” Blough said. “We have so many talented artists and musicians, antique collectors and charitable organizations that I hope to see all of them represented in one way or another; this isn’t just about cleaning out your old junk – but that’s ok too.”