Storefront Tips

The Downtown Committee’s Storefront Tips guide was designed in May 2020 to help our brick and mortar businesses put their best foot forward. From Lighting and Signage, to Windows and Outdoor Space, the guide distills best-practice tips from communities across the globe. Using photo examples that illustrate each concept, Storefront Tips provides easy-to-follow pointers for shopkeepers to use in attracting new customers.

While the project was conceived before the pandemic, it became especially relevant in Spring 2020 as the COVID-19 virus spread and state-mandated shutdowns limited business operations. The brochures were printed in June and distributed to re-opening businesses in July, via hard-copy, emailed PDFs, and through the Downtown Committee website.

Hard copies of Storefront Tips were distributed in tandem with the City of Syracuse’s new Right-of-Way guide, which outlines restaurants’ and retailers’ use of public space for outdoor seating and displays. Together, these two guides provided a crucial path forward for retailers and restaurants struggling during COVID-19, by both outlining best practices for engaging customers and defining local government rules regarding outdoor space.

The low-cost strategies in the Storefront Tips guide proved helpful during COVID: e.g. using sidewalk chalk to direct customers to your door; illuminating window displays; providing doggie water bowls; and using flowers to create inviting outdoor spaces.