- January 30, 2025
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If you spend $100 at a locally-owned store, $68 stays in your community. If you spend $100 in a mega-online retailer, $43 stays in your community.
This statistic by Independent We Stand, a pro-small business organization, is the reason why Ormond Beach MainStreet Executive Director Julia Truilo states supporting small businesses is so important for the community. With 217 businesses in the downtown district — which spans from Orchard St. to A1A — mom and pop shops account for 80% of these businesses.
Ormond Beach is lucky, Truilo said. While that same split might be commonly found in towns of 10,000 people or less, that may not always be the case for towns with populations hovering in the 40,000s like Ormond.
So, when the news broke that the Christmas parade would not be happening due to COVID-19, MainStreet got together with the city's Leisure Services and tried to come up with a way to bring business to the downtown. Truilo credits the idea of “Merry and Bright on Main Street" to Leisure Services, particularly Stefan Sibley.
“The holiday season, for every business everywhere, is a huge part of their annual income," Truilo said. "We wanted to be sure that folks remembered that these stores are here for them.”
Merry and Bright on Main Street, which runs until Saturday, Dec. 19, featured a contest for businesses in the downtown district to decorate their storefronts in order to win prizes. Judging took place on Saturday, Dec. 12, and the first place winner, who took home $2,000 for their decorations was Dunn's Attic. Second place went to Geri Westfall Real Estate, which won $1,000, and the third place prize of $750 was awarded to Elements of Design. The Neighborhood Shop took home an honorable mention.
Santa Claus, Mrs. Claus and the City Commission also rode through the downtown as part of the event.
It took Hank Adams, of Geri Westfall Real Estate, about three days to put together the display in the front porch of his and his wife's business. Last year, he also decorated for Christmas, and contest or no contest he was going to decorate this year. In fact, the second place winner almost didn't enter, but decided to give it a go at the end.
Adams said it has been cool seeing other businesses decorate their storefronts, especially as
some have challenges regarding space and can't do much more than decorate their windows. While he was working on his own display, which features inflatables, Christmas music and a slew of blue lights, he said people stopped by and paused for a minute. It was never about the contest, Adams said.
“When people stop there and they listen to the music and they look at it, and they smile — that’s why," he said.
It was always his wife Geri Westfall's dream to have a business in the downtown. Come January, the couple will celebrate their second year of achieving that.
He has plans for next year's display and hopes the city and Main Street continue to hold this competition annually as a way to bring more vibrancy to the downtown district during the holidays.
What does economic development look like for Ormond Beach? Truilo said that's a question Main Street is discussing.
There aren't many big box retailers in the downtown, nor national chains. You can't count those on your fingers and toes, Truilo said. That's partly attributed to the district's focus on design guidelines and emphasis of redevelopment, she explained, which often discourages those seeking a "cookie-cutter" building process.
It's also because the culture surrounding the shop local initiative is active. The Small Business Saturday event last month was very successful, Truilo said, as the community has a real desire to support these businesses.
It's something Main Street has been working toward these past 25 years.
“It’s a lot of messaging over 25 years," Truilo said. "First that we can do it and now that we have it, that we should conserve it.”
2020 has been a difficult year for many, but Truilo said having the opportunity to take an evening stroll through the downtown to look at the decorations can be refreshing.
“If we can preserve this, I’d love to see us grow it and have more businesses participate," she said.
