Over the past few weeks, we have been receiving feedback from our business owner survey. We received 15 responses from restaurants, medical offices, retail stores, and others and have collected great feedback to guide our efforts over the next many months. Keep reading for a quick summary of the results.
Half of the respondents have owned their businesses for longer than 10 years, and about a third of respondents have actually been in operation here in Tacony for more than two decades! This goes to show just how long our business community has been in place, providing continual service along Torresdale Avenue and elsewhere in our neighborhood. An impressive two thirds of responding business owners own their storefronts, providing a level of stability to the corridor. The third of business owners who rent, on the other hand, contribute to the vitality and affordability of our commercial corridor. More than twice as many businesses reported growth in the past few years than reported decline. Another substantial portion of our respondents reported that business remained stable.
In addition to all of this good news, we did learn about how our local owners need help and where we can contribute the most. Many of our store owners need help maintaining and updating the appearance of their storefronts or improving security measures. Luckily, there are two City of Philadelphia programs that aim to do just that: the SafeCam Program and the Storefront Improvement Program. We have successfully installed 55 cameras and completed 22 storefront programs in the past several years and will keep working to get the word out to business owners about how they can participate.
In addition to needing more information about city programs and tools, almost all of our respondents were interested in attracting new customers. In the coming weeks, be sure to keep your eye on our Facebook page for announcements about updates to www.shoptacony.com and a new Tacony CDC website, which is currently under construction. Communication will be vastly improved with these upgrades, and we will work hard to turn readers into customers.
These are just our first reactions to the surveys but we will continue to brainstorm new events, new partnerships, and new ways to improve Torresdale Avenue. As always, feel free to reach out if you have questions about city programs, design improvements, and business planning, or if you have a great idea for marketing the neighborhood's wonderful businesses!
