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Downtown
Divas
You
may think the name says it all for a place like Farmville.
There, pastures stretch as far as the eye can see and
tractors cause traffic jams. However, in the heart of
downtown Farmville, there's a posse of modern businesswomen
with some cosmopolitan ideas.
Meet the Downtown Divas - a group of eight business
owners each with a specialty shop along the town's quaint
turn-of-the-20th-century Main Street. Each week, the
divas meet to talk shop and to brainstorm on ways to
keep the heart of the town's business sector pumping.
"We're always trying to think of ways to get people
downtown," says Rosa Mann, owner of the Ivy Trellis,
an interior and gift boutique. "We talk about what's
new, what's selling, what works in our stores and what
hasn't."
One
way they attract new business is by creating a virtual
downtown - with each shop not only offering its own
wares online but also linking to one another's sites
as well as other points of interest throughout the town.
The women help each other with their Web sites, giving
pointers on everything from design to what items to
sell online. As a result, each has seen an increase
in online business. "I've taken most of the group's
input to heart as far as my Web site goes," Mann
says, "and now more than 40 percent of my customer
base is online."
In
addition to discussing promotional ideas, management
issues and taxes, on the first Wednesday of each month
the women discuss investments. They take turns giving
reports on stocks they have researched and then with
the help of a counselor invest in them as a group. Together
they've put together newspaper ads, held street-wide
sales and coordinated auctions.
It
helps, Mann adds, that all of the women are friends.
"We're much, much stronger together than we are
apart. … It's a great dynamic," she says,
noting that the women have shared many prayers, tears
and laughs. "We like each other and help each other,
and it's definitely cheaper than therapy."
-
Catherine Leitch Emery
Return
to Virginia Business -April 2002
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