February 10, 2014 at 2:44 p.m.
Taste of Chocolate brings business community together
Taste of Chocolate brings business community together
The event, sponsored by Downtown Rhinelander, Inc. (DRI), is in its seventh year of bringing downtown businesses and the public together for a night of deals and desserts. This year's event highlighted over 30 businesses, surpassing the number of businesses that participated last year, said Maggie Steffen, executive director of DRI.
"Having 32 businesses, that's more than we had last year. I think people are surprised at that, that there are that many businesses in the downtown area. We had a great turnout for businesses, which is always a great thing," Steffen said.
Not only is the amount of businesses participating a great sign for downtown, but the mentality of those businesses is also key, Steffen said. Instead of trying to compete with each other, downtown businesses know they need each other to survive.
"I don't think the downtown businesses ever really compete, but I think they all have the 'we're in it together' mentality. I think having events like this really makes that a visible thing for them, I think it really enforces that thought process, that everyone is in this together and that the more we do together, good things are going to happen," Steffen said.
The business owners taking part in the event expressed similar sentiments.
Bucketheads owner Mike Hastreiter said the businesses routinely point customers in each other's direction knowing that more people shopping downtown is good for everyone.
"We get a lot of people coming in that ask us where other good places are to eat or to shop and we always try to point them to other downtown establishments," Hastreiter said.
"A night like tonight, everybody comes together and we try to support each other's businesses. The more people that are downtown helps us all out in the long run."
Book World manager Cindy Herum said downtown businesses do a great job of directing customers to other downtown establishments to purchase what they need.
"It's a great thing for the town, for downtown. People don't really realize everything that's available here," Herum said.
"We really do try to support one another. We send people to the toy store or other places if we don't have something and vice versa. It's really nice because we all know that we need each other, that we really are a little community together."
New downtown businesses quickly realize how much each business supports its neighboring businesses.
Bath and Body Creations - Inspired by Jan opened last September. Owner Michele Baumgartner said she took part in Taste of Chocolate to let people know she is open for business.
"It's my first year in business, so I wanted to get the word out that I'm here in case people don't know that yet," Baumgartner said.
Baumgartner said she's already discovered that the downtown business community is a community that supports each other whenever possible
"People are always directing people here or I'm directing people different places. If I know someone has something, I'm definitely going to spread the word so that the customer is satisfied and patronizes the downtown businesses," Baumgartner said.
"That's why I'm here. I shopped other places and saw this opening and came in here and I'm so glad I did. It's a great community to be a part of."
All of that cooperation makes for a strong downtown, which, according to Steffen, is the heart of Rhinelander.
"Having the event, I think, also is a good way of bringing in the community and having the community realize, and we say this and it may sound kind of flip, we're the heart of the community. Really, we are. Having the downtown keeps the community together," Steffen said.
"Everyone can name a family member or a friend or a neighbor or somebody that works downtown or has worked downtown or has a connection to somebody downtown. It's a really key component to the success of the community."
None of that matters if the public isn't out and about downtown though. Luckily, at least on Friday night, a lot of people were. And those roaming around agreed that you can find what you need just by heading downtown.
"I know it's taken its lumps, but we really do have a great downtown. It's resilient, I guess is the word," event participant Judy Broman said.
"You may not be able to find absolutely everything you need anymore, but you can find most of it. And if you can find it here, why not get it here? This is our community and we need to support it and keep it strong."
Marcus Nesemann may be reached at [email protected].
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