You can see that on our itinerary most of the places we saw were tourist destinations, so we saw what tourist destinations do to make people come, stay and return. I would love to see Yreka turn into one of those types of towns, if not for the sake of tourism at least simply for the sake of ourselves, our community and to make Yreka a prettier town to live in.
There are some really simple things that the city and business owners could do to improve the ‘likeability’ of Yreka. The first is FLOWERS! I know that sounds stupid to some people - probably the same people that are against chickens - but the BIG hanging flower baskets were a common thread in many of these tourist destinations. I know there was an attempt to put flowers on Miner Street, but they were too small and shop owners didn’t keep them alive. By the way, plastic flowers are completely unacceptable - just stop doing that ok!? I really enjoy the planters in front of Surroundings. It is well thought out and nicely maintained - a good start. The mining cart in front of the chamber of commerce is cool too. And the wysteria across the street is beautiful when it blooms. BUT downtown needs more! I would love to see HUGE flower baskets hanging high from the light posts lining Miner Street this summer. I’m telling you, visitors would notice and they’d think, “Gee, this is a cute town.”
The next step to beautification is simply to clean up the city. Find spots that can be landscaped, like that corner in front of the Jolley’s Club bar or the overpass at Main and Oberlin just to name a couple. I would love to see a long term plan to put a merridian down the center of Main St. It would not only look much more appealing, but it would provide safer crossing for pedestrians.
The other item that needs to be addressed is the state of small business management in Yreka. This is a tough one, because we have many business owners that WANT to make Yreka a better place, but don’t understand that the way they conduct their business impacts the overall image of our community. They simply need to be educated about how to run their businesses so that they are more successful and the community is better off for them.
It’s a subject that I’ve wanted to address for a long time, but frankly I was reluctant because I didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. But it just needs to be said. So, business owners, please seek out some help with managing your businesses. Especially in the area of Marketing which includes advertising, AND simply making your stores inviting for people to visit.
Ascetics are really important in retail! Make sure your customers are able to enjoy their shopping experience in your store, even if they aren’t there to buy something. If they didn’t have a good experience when they are window shopping they will not come back! So here’s just some beginner tips:
Wash your windows and doors.
Sweep the sidewalk.
Vaccuum and/or mop your store’s floor.
Fill your store with product but don’t over fill your racks so that people can’t see individual items easily.
Smile and greet your customers. How about offering them a fresh baked cookie or a free cup of coffee or tea?
Have great signage and consider updating the lighting in your store to better diplay your products.
Play music - not too loud and not too obnoxious and not country (unless you sell country stuff primarily, even then moderation may be good).
Do not smoke cigarrettes (or anything else) in front of your store! Man! It’s gross! Don’t do that!
How about an occassional advertisment so people will remember you? In Yreka the first thought will be, ‘that place is still in business? They must be doing something right.’ Here’s the thing, people have been conditioned to think that when a new business opens ‘they won’t be open for long, so why bother going there?’ As a new business owner, this is the beast that you must battle. The best defense against this ingrained mentalitiy is advertising. Do it! Newspaper, Radio, Gorrilla - whatever - do it - all of it!
Ok, that’s my campaignn platform. No, I’m not running for office. I’m simply running (or ranting;) for Yreka. Don’t even get me started on our city officials. That’s a whole other post. But I would urge you to VOTE!!!
