"Oh, The Shops!"

I don't know about you, but I suddenly have this urge to go shopping in Gardner.

They are no longer just the shops of downtown Gardner. Now, they are The Shops of Downtown Gardner.

In its latest attempt to promote the city's downtown stores, Square Two, a downtown advocacy organization, is doing a bit of branding. It wants people to think of the downtown businesses as a cohesive unit -- not just a disorganized strip of shops with no name, but a quaint, diversified place to browse called "The Shops of Downtown Gardner."

These Square Two folks have embraced one of the fundamental rules of marketing: There are only three things guaranteed to get people to buy what you're selling: bears, monkeys, and capital letters. Or something.

"When you refer to something in a different way, it sheds a new light on it," said Mark D. Hawke, the city's grants administrator and president of Square Two. "Somebody might say, 'Oh, The Shops, I might drive through and see what's down there.' "

Oh. The Shops!

Actually, The idea is genius. In fact I may try it. I want my wife to think that the pile of mail that I have to sort through is not just a disorganized mess of letters and magazines, but a quaint diversified collection of items I call "My Pile of Mail." I'll bet the next time I walk past the desk, I'll say "Oh, My Pile of Mail. I might sort through and see what's down there."

To be sure, downtown Gardner is not as healthy as the city would like. Some buildings, including the notable former Goodnow-Pearson building, are vacant and boarded up. Other storefront businesses, including a bureau of the Telegram & Gazette, are not retail, which makes them fairly worthless for shoppers walking the streets. ...

Still, there is shopping to be had, and a variety of stores line downtown's few blocks. In little time, a shopper could buy, say, sporting goods, a new watch, children's clothing and a DVD.

There's also food, including diners, pizza, a Chinese restaurant and the much-hyped latest addition, the Gardner Ale House. For sweets, there's a candy-making shop.

I dunno. The Shops at Gardner may inspire folks from Athol or Erving to make the trip, but that won't be enough to get the Volvo and Lexus crowd to venture outside of 495 for a DVD and a pizza. I'd have gone with The Shoppes at Gardnerville or Ye Olde Gardner Marketplace.


Tags: Massachusetts Gardner Shopping