Broughton Street traders are bouncing back against the slings and arrows of outrageous tramworks, road closures and traffic diversions with a stylish marketing campaign.
A website is on the way, but over 60 local businesses have already recently begun sharing a newsy Facebook presence and Twitter feed (@BroughtonEdin). Both carry information on events, promotions and special offers.
A 12-week advertising campaign – paid for by City of Edinburgh Council – will begin this weekend in the Scotsman Saturday magazine supplement. On the back page of today's edition, another advert promises treats from local shopkeepers this Sunday. (For starters, check out tasty nibbles or tipples at Curiouser and Curiouser, Real Foods, Indie Chic, Broughton Deli, Life Story, The Dragonfly, Coco Chocolate and Urbanangel. Hot toddies will be provided to those saying 'Broughton Traders Association', but only in Mathers between 3pm and 5pm.)
Traders will also distribute postcards/maps outside the St James and Omni Centres over the weekend in a bid to attract shoppers from outwith Broughton down the hill and past the offputting barriers at York Place.
[img_assist|nid=3611|title=|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=200|height=200]It's a strenuous campaign with a positive message, and one which is vital if Broughton Street is to prosper under very trying conditions at this crucial period in the trading year.
It's also a big step forward for an area whose businesspeople have in the past sometimes been too preoccupied, timid or short of resources to mount concerted resistance to commercial threats.
Congratulations to those who began and then drove this process at street level, and to Paula Hoogerbrugge and later Sarah Woodford – town centre coordinators at Edinburgh Council – who grabbed the nettle by the horns and put their money on the table (Issue 209).
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