Delmar may begin to make downtown revival inroads

Sandy Rose,  Patsy Bridge, Misty Fields and Cindy Dayton want 

to help transform the Delmar downtown into a viable, occasional, 

destination for local and regional artisans to show off their talents 

and bring Delmar a little more recognition in the region.

Downtowns all over the Eastern Shore are having revivals, capitalizing on a combination of the buy local movement and depressed rents for underpopulated city centers. A decade ago, Berlin, Md. began holding a monthly “Second Friday” arts walk it sputtered for a few years before became a regional phenomenon. Similarly with Salisbury’s “3rd Friday” which took at least three years to gain the kind of momentum it currently enjoys.

Cambridge has an arts walk, as does Snow Hill, Milford, Millsboro, Georgetown and many others have dabbled for better and worse in the arts/buy local destination events. Increasingly, three sisters who, along with their mother own the Peddlers Four in Delmar’s downtown are asking, “Why not here?”

Realistically, there are tons of reasons. 

There isn’t a lot of retail in the Delmar downtown, nor is there a lot of empty space that needs filling. In fact, save for the Peddlers Four and the Route 54 used goods store on State Street, the other retail on the block Milanos, a dress shop and Campbell’s Barber Shop, all are destination stores. 

Delmar doesn’t depend upon foot traffic for economic development. Mostly it depends on a kind of static economic approach. As long as people continue their current shopping habits, things will be unchanged in the downtown. On the face of that, that should be plenty for the ladies at the Peddlers Four.

They do a brisk business in mid- to high-end antiques and, as a result of their own creativity and word of mouth, they could easily ride their current success into retirement. But where’s the fun in that?

Last year, unbidden and unfunded the ladies undertook to decorate the entire downtown for Christmas. This year they likely will do the same, but before the year is out, they want to begin to reimagine downtown Delmar as an episodic retail establishment. A kind of short term artisan Brigadoon. 

Here’s the thought:

What if, rather than follow other towns’ models and try and jumpstart weekend traffic for the four to six potential businesses that eventually would benefit, they established a regular artisan’s fair? What if Delmar became the center of local craftmanship ship for Western Sussex and northern Wicomico counties? It is very easily done. The only thing that is required is tenacity, vision and the kind of quixotic enthusiasm that affects a culture change. And the ladies at the Peddlers Four have all those things in spades.

“Art walks seem to be something of an epidemic locally,” said Sandy Rose, one of the Peddlers Four principals. “But this approach is something that no one else has.”

What they don’t have is the kind of tidal wave of support that makes these things successful. Yet.

Hurdles

The centerpiece of the ladies’ plan is to close down the section of Pennsylvania Avenue from State Street to Grove for one Saturday afternoon per month in what might be called the “strolling months,” March or April through December. For the downtown stores, such as they are, this might be a bit of an inconvenience and the ladies understand that they must be addressed.

“We want to be careful not to affect the other stores that already are here,” said Misty Fields, another principal. “We’ll be working with the other businesses

But the ladies believe, rightly, that the other downtown establishments will see the exposure as worth the four to six hours per month inconvenience. 

The reason is the change in demographic. People who are attracted to local, handcrafted products are not necessarily the same people who regularly frequent the Delmar downtown. Artisans tend to have followers. People who sell handmade leather goods (or jewelry or soaps) online and at craft fairs all over the Peninsula have a specific reach that spreads beyond the hyper-local.

‘Lots of empty spaces’

There is a long game to be seen, if you’re willing to look. The downtown isn’t completely sold out. There are some empty spaces currently for rent and with the eventual rehab of the building on the corner of Pennsylvania and State streets, it is possible more will come. 

Moreover, as Wood Creek and other local subdivisions continue to develop, Delmar is already in a position to be a very walkable town, if there’s anything to walk to.

“Even though there’s nowhere to put any businesses on this street, there are lots of empty spaces,” Rose said. 

Beyond those already mentioned, there is the former pharmacy (which occupied the former furniture store) that could accommodate some retail, or possibly a gallery, artisan or otherwise.

But it is important to start ambitious projects slow and establish tiny footholds before trying to do too much.

The most successful projects in the region, Berlin and Salisbury, required merchants and vendors alike enduring years of very low attendance until hard work translated into fortune. Delmar, unlike those other places, as a particular advantage: a monthly artisan event is something it would like, but not something it desperately needs.

At the bottom of everything, this is why the ladies and any of the partners they recruit along the way, can succeed. What they envision is something that is better for the town writ large than for any of the individual businesses. It is a pure civic project, which is something Delmar tends to get behind.

The initial vision

In the coming weeks, the ladies hope to present a cogent plan to the Delmar Town Council and get approval for some version of a street fair. The Council hedged at a complete street shutdown at an earlier meeting, but didn’t outright discard the possibility. With the upcoming Heritage Day event there is every hope that town pride will prevail in this attempt to change the way people in the region think about Delmar.

The Peddlers Four will be accepting offers from vendors who are interested in participating. The idea is to have a wide range of artists and artisans selling everything from baked goods to handmade soaps and gifts. The ladies also hope to have a band or some street musicians in accordance with the town’s and their neighbors’ wishes. 

“We’re looking forward to trying to get it done very quickly,” Rose said.

Anyone interested in being a vendor should contact call the Peddlers Four at 443-614-1824. 

There will be a modest booth rental fee to cover potential advertising and entertainment costs.