Greensburg business owners unite to revitalize downtown

Ray McFeely, co-owner of McFeely's Gourmet Chocolate, said his Greensburg business is dying from lack of customers.

He's one of the founding members of a new organization that's hoping to change that.

The Greensburg Business and Professional Association was created to give the city's downtown shopping district more credibility and profitability.

It will do that by hosting events meant to attract members of the public into the city, said Ed Sam, president of the Affordable Marketing and Entertainment Network.

“You want to make noise, because noise wakes people up,” he said.

Business owners brought Sam in to help start the association, which meets weekly. Sam is part of the similar Irwin Business and Professional Organization.

McFeely owns a second chocolate shop in Irwin. The borough regularly holds events such as food tastings, craft fairs and festivals. Business is thriving, McFeely said.

He hopes Greensburg can do the same.

“Everybody on this block just started talking,” he said. “We wanted to do more in the city.”

Ron Mancuso has run Mancuso's Shoe Repair on South Pennsylvania Avenue for more than 40 years. Business is steady, but it's nothing like it was when he started, when large department stores filled now-vacant buildings, he said.

“There wasn't an empty storeroom to be found in this town,” he said. “I got lucky and found this spot. Now there's empty buildings all over town.”

There used to be an association of Greensburg small businesses owners, but it's been pretty much defunct for decades, he said.

“We have to start from scratch, everything we had is gone,” he said.

The new association participated in last year's luminary night and a “shop hop” in April, but members hope to start hosting events more frequently starting this summer, Sam said.

That will kick off with a wine soiree June 28.

Meanwhile, it's going through the basics of getting up and running — setting up a bank account and nonprofit status.

Sam said events like the wine soiree, a car cruise and an ethnic food night will bring attention and money into the city.

“The real goal is to put more money in the cash registers,” he said. “We're living in a time when businesses are moving from shopping malls back to small towns.”

Julie Fitzpatrick, assistant director of the Pennsylvania Downtown Center, said there has been a shift toward shopping in small, walkable communities.

Revitalizing a downtown economy takes more than a car cruise, but events can be one important ingredient, she said.

Successful downtowns require a partnership between businesses, nonprofits and governments,

“That's what really works in communities, when you have this really comprehensive approach,” she said.

Sometimes, government committees can handle it all, but that's not always the case, she said.

“That's where we've seen these organizations sprout up, where there's a desire to be a little bit more active or a little bit more engaged than the local municipality has the capacity to be,” she said.

It was time for business owners to start working together, Mancuso said.

“It's not up to the city,” he said. “We've got to do it, it's up to us.”

Helen Keegan-Geroux, owner of Artisan of Hands and Heart on West Second Street, already had been working with a few other local business owners to organize events such as a summer soiree and ladies shopping night.

“I just decided that I wanted to keep going and be as prosperous as it could be.”

Now she's working with the business association, and she hopes these promotional programs will grow.

“People are giving ideas, and getting ideas,” she said. “Not a whole lot has been done in downtown Greensburg. Why not try some new things and let's see what works?”

Jacob Tierney is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-836-6646, jtierney@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Soolseem.