Business - DBA meets to discuss "the good, the bad and the solutions"

“It’s a time for business owners to voice their opinions on what is good and bad, and how to fix the bad,” said DBA president Dawn Oesch. “Some things we can fix, and there are some things we have no control over. This meeting is just a time to get ideas out there and see what we can do.”

Some of the solutions that occurred over throughout the year include:

• One of the solutions that was taken care of over the summer was the signage on the west side of Broadway which directs shoppers to stores on the back streets

• “Curlin Weekend” and Final Stretch Weekend which marketed downtown Saratoga with the New York Racing Association

• “Bag Day” in December 2007. Patrons who used a specially designed DBA bag received 20 percent off their purchases as an initiative to get shoppers downtown. The DBA will host another bag day on December 13.

This year also saw the launch of a new DBA website, gift cards and five festivals. As a way to go green, the DBA newsletter is now online which has saved on paper, envelopes, labels and postage.

Some of “the bad” which will be addressed, if possible, throughout the year include construction hampering traffic and business, construction workers taking up parking spaces, seeing more corporate America filtering into downtown instead of mom and pop shops and restrictions on parking Congress Street.

The festivals that have been presented by the DBA and Convention Bureau and the Chamber of Commerce such as Mardi Gras, Chowderfest, the All-American Forth of July Festival and the Victorian Streetwalk have also been successful with getting people downtown and the three associations working together has proven to be beneficial for all three. The DBA will continue to market festivals to raise awareness support local business.

“This was a banner year for the DBA. Our membership is up and we really have a voice now,” Oesch said. “The DBA is considered an asset to Saratoga now, and each year we get bigger and bigger. We need to keep it up.”

The DBA was founded in the 1960’s by Norman Fox, founder of N. Fox Jewelers and has continued to be successful in promoting downtown Saratoga Springs. Meetings are held on the third Wednesday of each month at 6:30 at a different location each month to discuss business, events and how to market downtown. The next meeting will be held on October 22 at the Automobile Museum.