Board Spotlight: Meet Main Street America’s Three New Board Members
We are excited to welcome Lynda Tran, Tyrone Rachal, and Mary Helmer Wirth to the Main Street America Board of Directors
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Today marks the launch of Shop Main Street, a new online store managed by Main Street America. The shop features clothing and apparel, accessories, home and office goods, and kids’ and baby items, now available for purchase at ShopMainStreet.org.
Inspired by survey data collected during the COVID-19 pandemic showing a desire for more opportunities to promote the Main Street movement, Shop Main Street goes beyond promoting the Main Street America brand. Instead, the goal is to create an additional resource for spreading the word about the Main Street mission.
“Part of any successful Main Street effort is building support behind the mission,” said Matt Wagner, PhD, Chief Program Officer at Main Street America, who developed the concept behind Shop Main Street. “The store provides an opportunity for everything from rewarding volunteers or gifting board members to communicating support for Main Streets as a testimony to one’s lifestyle and values.”
Visit Shop Main Street
Shop Main Street has been in development since mid-2022, and was first announced publicly at the Main Street Now Conference in Boston at the end of March. Main Street America staff hosted a Pop-Up Shop featuring t-shirts, baseball caps, beanies, mugs, water bottles, notebooks, and stickers.
“We were totally blown away by the response our Pop-Up store received from the Network at the Conference in Boston. Truly amazing!” said Wagner. “And for the future, I’m excited by the opportunities for the Network and supporters from around the country to visually display their passion for their own downtown or neighborhood commercial districts.”
The online store is currently organized by product type, with categories including Clothing & Apparel, Kids & Youth Apparel, Baby & Toddler Apparel, Accessories, and Home & Office Goods. Products were selected based on their relevance to Main Street organizations’ needs and common uses, including t-shirts, sweatshirts, tote bags, notebooks, laptop cases, stickers, mugs, and much more. As we receive feedback and gather sales data, this product list will continue to grow and develop to better fit our network’s needs.
View Products by Category
Over the course of the next year, more products, designs, and categories, as well as add a feature that allows for localized customization, will be added to the site. We also plan to engage with local artists from Main Street communities to develop creative new designs available as special collections.
New designs, artwork, and products will be released on an on-going basis! Subscribe here to receive updates about new collections, product features, special promotions, and more.
Shop Main Street is hosted by Shopify, an e-commerce company focused on supporting small businesses. To learn about Shopify’s mission to support entrepreneurs, please click here. Products are fulfilled, printed, and shipped through Printful, an on-demand drop-shipping company that sources eco-friendly, sustainable, and responsible products from around the globe. To learn more about Printful’s sustainability and responsibility pledge, please visit this page.
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Announcing the 2017 Great American Main Street Award Winners
The National Main Street Center, Inc. announced the 2017 Great American Main Street Award (GAMSA) during its annual conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The Reality of Main Street — Letter from the President
The National Main Street Center and the Brookings Institution have jointly authored a response to Mr. Hyman’s piece, The Reality of Main Street, that is featured on Brookings’ blog.
Michigan Main Street Refresh Implementation: Our Process and Lessons Learned So Far
Michigan Main Street Center was the first Coordinating Program to implement the new Main Street approach on a large scale. In this article, they share their robust process and valuable lessons.
The Reality of Main Street
There is another way for smaller communities to compete in today’s economy and we believe a strong main street strategy is at the heart of it.
The Myth of Main Street? Letter from the President
Letter from past MSA President, Patrice Frey
The Lowdown in Downtown LaBelle
Fritz the dog has made his way into the hearts of the residents of LaBelle, Florida, and helped our Main Street Community find a way to make what we do more noticeable.
Strategic Planning Through Transformation Strategies – Saline, Michigan
Back in October 2015, we introduced the three key components of the refreshed Main Street Approach: inputs, outputs and Community Transformation Strategies.
Revitalization and Main Street Transformation
For a lucky few downtowns, greatness may happen effortlessly with a strong sense of place that seems to develop organically and simply sustain itself. For most places, success doesn’t happen by chance.
Revisit Your Community’s Unique Assets: Connecting Asset-Based Economic Development to Community Transformation Strategies
This need for change results from the heavy emphasis on three components of the refreshed Main Street Approach.
The 2016 Great American Main Street Award Winners
The 2016 winners are a diverse group in geography and character, but together demonstrate the broad applicability of the Main Street Approach:
Main Street Nation Radio
The first official show under the Main Street Nation banner aired in June 2015 on WJR-760 AM Detroit.
The Path To The Future
The economic value of historic preservation on Main Street.
Refresh Demonstration Project Sites: Learning Labs for the Updated Main Street Approach
A series of demonstration projects providing the opportunity to test new strategies on the ground, learn from practitioners, and refine the approach.
Why Business Retention and Expansion Plans are Important for Downtowns
A business retention and expansion plan, properly implemented, not only helps keep businesses open but possibly even helps them expand.
Wisconsin Main Street: 27 Years of People, Places and Progress
While there have been over $1.2 billion in public and private investment in Wisconsin Main Street communities over the past 27 years, what really makes it special are the people and places that have been involved.
Pop-Up Art Tour
Main Street Bartow's empty storefronts become pop-up art galleries to promote economic development.
A Walk Through Rehoboth Beach Main Street
Although a “beach town,” Rehoboth Beach is open 365 days a year, and with that has the unique challenge of catering to both year-round residents and tourists within a wide range of ages, interests and economic levels
Independent We Stand Makes Main Streets a Priority
In communities across the country, hardworking business owners and buy local advocates come together to foster an organized effort to reinvent and revitalize Main Streets and downtown districts.
Announcing the 2015 Great American Main Street Award Winners
The National Main Street Center is pleased to announce that Cape Girardeau, Mo., Montclair Center, N.J., and Rawlins, Wyo. were selected as the 2015 Great American Main Street Award® (GAMSA) winners.
