Grassroots of Tarboro

While visiting my daughter in the Chapel Hill area, she took me to an interesting store in Durham that offered vintage clothing in a sort of funky/fun/hip environment.  I chatted with the owner and she mentioned that their best day of the week was Saturday because bus tours would stop with dozens of people.

Why can't Tarboro be a bus tour stop?

I've started looking into it and it seems that it certainly can be done, it just hasn't been done.  Just as Tarboro needs a communication network within the community, it needs to reach out beyond eastern North Carolina to draw visitors.

Think of all we have to offer.  Our downtown is lovely with plenty of unique shops to fill an afternoon of shopping.  We have several restaurants and cafe's in our downtown, including On The Square which offers a wine bar and fabulous menu.  We have a huge 45 block historic district with walking tours of many of the homes.  We have the Veterans Museum and the Blount -Bridgers House with the Pittman Gallery. We have a lovely town common, and a riverside park.  We have ample parking and easy access from I-95 via NC64.   A busload of visitors every week could make a major difference in our downtown's prosperity.

Perhaps our next informal gathering of businesses should discuss the possiblities and the how-tos.

When we purchased the old Marrow-Pitt building in downtown Tarboro just over 2 years ago, it had been empty and neglected for a LONG time.  The windows were boarded up. The facade on Main Street had been stripped away. It was indeed a sad looking building. 

Our primary business is internet-based. Most of our customers order online, so a good-looking building isn't necessary, but we loved the building's location and knew when we bought it that it would eventually house more than JAC's Wholesale.

Now that we've lived in Tarboro for awhile, we've come to understand some of the wants and needs of the residents.  Many people have expressed a desire for an Antiques Mall, and we've heard rumors about other things the town would like to have as a draw to visitors and tourists.  Our antiques and collectibles store, The Unusual Shoppe was born in response to what the people wanted.

Now we're working on making it WONDERFUL.  I know that we must have a very clear image of what we are creating.  I know that seeing it first in our mind's eye is the first step toward fulfilling the vision. I've created before & after pictures to help others share in visualizing the finished product.

BEFORE

AFTER

As you can see, the biggest amount of work to the facade will be to the second floor.  Currently 4 very old restrooms line that front wall.  The 2 middle rooms will be removed and exterior French doors will be installed.  The steel beams that once held the roof overhanging the sidewalk will now form the floor supports for a second floor balcony.  The French doors will open onto the balcony allowing patrons to sit and overlook Main Street.

Share the vision with me: I can see people flowing through the front doors, browsing the shelves, finding treasures, selecting a good read (from the thousands of books in stock), getting a cup of coffee and sitting at tables on the balcony. The entire downstairs of The Unusual Shoppe will house a wide and interesting assortment of art, antiques and collectibles. It is a fun destination attracting people of all ages to Tarboro from miles away. In the 2nd floor lounge a guitarist is playing or a community workshop is being held. The building is alive with people and all of downtown Tarboro is thriving as a result.

How this is all going to be paid for is still at the mystery level, but I'm not concerned. It is a great idea and I can see it as a welcomed addition to town.  Can you see it, too? Want to help make it real? Your donations of saleable goods, building materials, your physical labor and MONEY for improvements are always welcomed and sincerely appreciated.

I attended a financing workshop yesterday, sponsored by the Creative Communities Initiative of ENC .  As with many workshops and group meetings, it consisted of printed sheets of information being distributed to the attendees and a follow-up discussion by the moderator with questions and comments from the group.

The printed sheets were very informative and I'm certain that I'll use some of the information provided but one comment made by a real estate developer from the Edenton area stuck clearly in my mind.

The group was discussing various means of financing a town waterfront project that not only provided parklike amenities and access to the water but would be home to a community arts and entertainment complex.  The real estate developer said, "that's easy, you find a real estate developer, get him to pay for the entire project by giving him the terms that the building will be 3 stories high,   the town gets the first floor for the arts complex and the developer puts condos on the 2nd and 3rd floors.

Ok, I live a relatively sheltered life and the concept WOWed me!   My mind is now racing with LARGER visions. The Royster-Clark building in Tarboro's downtown has been empty since Floyd's floodwaters covered its first floor.  I may be wrong but I think that the few apartments that exist in downtown Tarboro fill up quickly.  The upstairs of that building could easily be converted to apartments.  First floor has Main Street frontage so something commercial and attractive to visitors would be great. An artist cooperative perhaps?  I'll have to give this more thought, but the concept of getting a developer to pay for town improvements...hmm.

After writing that last entry, I took off on a web search for more ideas and information. Tagline Guru has a excellent article on Top US City Mottos & Monikers.  A list is provided of the 50 top U.S. City Mottos and the 50 top U.S. City Nicknames. I found the criteria used for selecting the winners to be very important and useful in choosing a brand for our own town.

Branding criteria:

• Attributes: Does it express a city’s brand character, affinity, style, and personality?

• Message: Does it tell a story in a clever, fun, and memorable way?

• Differentiation: Is it unique and original?

• Ambassadorship: Does it inspire you to visit there, live there, or learn more?

I've been thinking a lot about Tarboro and how it can be "branded" to aid in self-promotion.  Currently the phase "A Front Porch Kind of Town" has been used but, to tell you the truth, I'm not thrilled by that representation. It sounds like a great place to retire to, but what about the young people? What about tourists looking for a fun place to visit?  The front porch reference makes me think of Tarboro as a town known for lazy afternoons with nothing to do but sit and rock.  Oh YAWN!!!  Tarboro is a quiet, beautiful, laid-back sort of town but it is also so much more!

I read recently about Milton-Freewater, a small town in Oregon with a population of 6500.  Desiring to attract more attention and more visitors to their town,  they branded the town with frogs.  Milton-Freewater is now "Muddy Frogwater Country" and a "Toadly Awesome Place to Live".    The town doesn't have any more frogs than neighboring towns but they "claimed the fame" for frogs and now will have frog festivals, frog merchandise and frog-based advertising. When you think of frogs in Oregon, you'll think of Milton-Freewater.

With that story in mind, I've been pondering Tarboro's potential branding themes.   Some important factors to keep in mind are 1) who are we trying to attract? 2) does the brand exhibit town pride?   3) will this brand withstand long-term use? 4) what good things may be associated with the brand? 5) what bad things may be associated with the brand? 6) is the brand "welcoming"?

In another article I recently read, it was discussed as to how to get a group consensus for branding the town.  I'm going to give some serious thought as to how to get the whole town involved.  After all,  the people ARE the town, so Tarboro's brand needs to represent Tarboro and its people.