WESTFIELD — A host of new Westfield businesses, restaurants and retail establishments have opened their doors over the course of the past several weeks, representatives from the Downtown Westfield Corporation (DWC) said Wednesday.
Among the new arrivals are Brosway Italia (a fashion jewelry boutique located at 220 East Broad Street), Superfly (a fitness center that features aerial workout options, located at 109 Quimby Street), VPho (a Vietnamese restaurant located at 415 Westfield Avenue) and Faherty (a beach-themed clothing store located at 127 Central Avenue). Several other local businesses, including The Wolves Den Barbershop And Supply Company, The Town Bookstore and Gordin and Sons Jewelers, also have recently celebrated their grand reopenings after completing renovations.
“There is a ton going on right now,” said Samantha Horning, the DWC’s executive director, noting that additional businesses are expected to open later this month.
Despite the new opportunities, however, DWC Vice Chair Lauren Bieber said Wednesday that visitors to the downtown area have not been as plentiful as they have in years past.
“The weather has not been doing us any favors so far,” Ms. Bieber said. “I looked it up, and we had 20 inches of rain inApril. Hopefully, we’ll see some better forecasts in May and everything will start to pick up again soon.”
In order to bolster foot traffic and encourage higher attendance rates at community events, the board plans to invest more time into digital outreach programs that will allow residents and visitors to have a better sense of sales, promotions and special events.
“We have gotten some marketing feedback based on the first two major events that we have hosted this year, which were Spring Into Fitness and Girls’ Night Out,” Board President Jeff Kirshenbaum said. “One of the things that we really want to work on is marketing our events to neighboring communities in a more timely manner.”
The board ultimately voted to appropriate up to $2,000 for digital marketing, social media and other online opportunities.
The DWC also announced a new set of guidelines on Wednesday that will be put into place to set “reasonable expectations for board and committee members,” Mr. Kirshenbaum said.
“Everyone here is a volunteer, but we just want to make sure we have our bases covered,” he said, adding that the new list will include responsibilities like attending board meetings, ribbon cuttings and community events.
The DWC will host its ongoing Spring into Fitness events, which feature trial classes from local fitness instructors, through the end of June. Course offerings include yoga, Pilates and boxing, among others. Classes are free and open to the public and will be held every Saturday, at 10 a.m., at Foundation Park. Each event will be postponed to the following Sunday in the event of inclement weather.
This year’s Sweet Sounds Downtown Music Festival is slated to kick off on Tuesday, July 2, and will continue every Tuesday for July and August.
The next meeting of the DWC is scheduled to take place at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 19, at the organization’s headquarters at 133 Prospect Street.
