For a while now, I have had this idea of promoting Downtown Weldon as a destination for treasuring hunting, meaning customers seeking to find a treasure in our antique and thrift shops.
I’ve bounced around several potential slogans — A Treasures Hunter’s Paradise, A Destination for Treasure Hunting, Let’s Go Treasure Hunting.
But none seemed to be accurate to meet the current number of shops and allow for growth.
I didn’t want to use a term that would oversell what we have and lead to the disappointment of the customers.
Then recently the convergence of several things has allowed me to flesh out this idea and land on the term Find Great Treasures in Downtown Weldon.
Convergence Number 1 — Riverside Mill began promoting a Community Yard Sale on the weekend of October 3rd to serve as a replacement of the canceled Highway 301 Yard Sale. Then some of the businesses downtown on the avenue began talking about having a sidewalk sale the same weekend.
Then I became aware that several residents were planning yard sales at their homes for the same weekend.
This led to a Facebook post in which I used the term “Explore Weldon for Great Treasures” and listed the places that were doing something extra for the weekend.
Convergence Number 2 — In late September, Kelly Barber with the Small Business Center at Halifax Community College called to tell me she had some pandemic relief funding and she wanted to discuss with me if there were any needs I had that would help my business recover during these times.
After talking about it, she was able to connect me with a social media marketing consultant who would help me develop a strategy to better promote my business through social media.
The intent was that I would get five hours of training to assist with the marketing of the Downtown Weldon Flea Market.
Convergence Number 3 — I began to have Zoom meetings with Melanie Diehl, the social media marketing consultant.
As we discussed the flea market business, I mentioned that I really had an interest in learning more about how I could promote all of Weldon.
I stated that in addition to having the Facebook page for the Downtown Weldon Flea Market, I also have a Facebook page for Explore Weldon.
It has been my intent to use Explore Weldon as a portal to promote the tourism facets of Weldon.
As discussions developed, the theme of “Find Great Treasures in Downtown Weldon” emerged. This slogan does not oversell what we have but conveys that you could find a great treasure among our shops.
Those shops are:
Riverside Mill: Antique Mall-Arts Gallery- Outlets
Downtown Weldon Flea Market
That Pops, Vintage Inspired Thrift Boutique
Trends: Urban Clothing
Stepin’ High Clothing
Nature’s Mana Health Foods
Treasure Chest Thrift Store
This N That Thrift Shop (Davis)
Holloman’s Auctions, 207 E 2nd St
Weldon Mills Distillery, Small Batch Bourbon Maker
51 Sycamore Restaurant & Rockfish Bar
Madeline’s Kitchen
As Melanie and I talked, we fleshed out several ideas, needs, and should do’s.
We, all of the merchants of Downtown Weldon, should be trying to obtain the contact information of our shoppers.
Encouraging customers to do a Facebook check-in or post a selfie with tags and hashtags.
This will promote Weldon when shoppers let their friends know that they have found a great treasure in Weldon.
In conclusion, the pandemic relief funding provided through the Small Business Center will be benefiting a whole community of businesses which will be a win for everyone.
We hope you find this information interesting and will support the treasured businesses of Downtown Weldon by Shopping and sending others to shop with us.
Next time, read about the photoshoot.
Andy Whitby has been an advocate for Weldon and a local historian for many years. Whitby has been involved in Downtown Revitalization efforts through tourism and economic development for nearly 30 years. As the owner of several downtown commercial properties, Whitby seeks to provide attractive and affordable rental space for locally owned businesses and entrepreneurs.
Find his previous blog posts at this link