Feb 5, 2009

‘Sweet’ town banks on collaborationBy Paula HolzmanCentralPennBusiness.com

Lititz is Lancaster County’s sweet spot.

Or at least that’s the pitch retailers in the small town – which is perpetually chocolate-scented thanks to the Wilbur Chocolate Factory – soon plan to make.

Merchants there have banded together to create a new branding and advertising campaign, one they hope will help attract people during the economic doldrums.

Store owners are experiencing the downturn to varying degrees but are pooling their funds and efforts to get a share of the public’s increasingly limited dollars.

“We’re spending more money than we ever have on advertising because when the economy is bad, you have to get your name out there,” said Gaylord Poling, who works at Tiger’s Eye, a Lititz clothier owned by his wife, Nadine.

Poling also is president of Venture Lititz, a Main Street program that began in earnest about a year ago. The group organizes a variety of activities to promote the downtown, including a gift-certificate program and Lovin Lititz Every 2nd, when businesses stay open late every second Friday and host activities.

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