HAMPTON, Va. - The Phoebus Partnership will welcome nonprofit Retail Alliance and a group of consultants for a tour of the historic neighborhood Thursday; the start of a yearlong pilot program to help grow small businesses there.
Last month, Retail Alliance — an organization that helps support businesses in Hampton Roads — announced it had won a $100,000 Virginia Business District Resurgence Grant to fund the program, which is designed to help established businesses in Phoebus give a better experience to customers.
The nonprofit tells News 3 that the money, which comes from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development, will allow for the hiring of consultants to work with the business owners.
It will also support smaller grants worth $3,000-5,000 to be given to five Phoebus businesses at the start of the new year.
"When you bring in a consultant, we look at all of it," said Retail Alliance CEO Jenny Crittenden. "We will look at the physical aspect of the building, we'll look at the customer experience from the Mystery Shop standpoint. We'll look at your merchandising displays. We're going to look at your interior signage. Do you have the opportunity for someone to post on social (media) in the store?"
The "exploratory retail technical assistance program," as it's described on the organization's social media, will begin in January and last the year.
Thursday's tour comes just weeks after Phoebus Partnership concluded a survey asking about the future of the neighborhood, which was its own town, until it was incorporated into Hampton in the 1950s.
Crittenden says Phoebus was chosen as the pilot community because its already-existing base that includes several successful shops and restaurants and organization between those businesses.
“They understand what it means for the downtown. The downtown is in essence the core of the local economy and so you can’t ignore it, you have to embrace it and you have to do whatever you can to incentivize that growth," she told News 3.
If the initial program is successful, Retail Alliance says it hopes to expand it to other smaller downtown areas around Hampton Roads.
