Congratulations to Trinh and the "chocolate" movers and shakers here in Chelsea...we'll share a few thoughts and invite you to do the same....
Demographics:
River Gallery used the event as a leverage to invite our art patrons to come on out and have some fun. A number of our regulars did come for a visit and we sold one major piece of art and a few smaller pieces. These folks are new to the events in Chelsea and "Chocolate Extravaganza" provided a nice introduction.
We asked every single person where they were from and discovered that most of the new faces for us were local families. Most of the locals were moms and children with the early morning visitors being seniors. There was also a strong representation of women out with women having fun. The Ann Arbor visitors we met were in town to have lunch at the Common Grill and the "Chocolate Extravaganza" came as a surprise to them.
River Gallery events: Many thanks to Phil of Northwoods Jerky for setting up a very cool table of "Signature Cocoa Jerky" .Phil greeted and spoke with every visitor, persuaded many to take their "maiden jerky voyage" and regular jerky lovers had a ball learning more about his business. Lora Wang did a superb job demonstrating the art of calligraphy and has a very special talent reaching out to children, teens and those who knew nothing of the Lunar calendar and the Year of the Tiger. We gave away about 40 artworks and believe me there were a lot of hopeful, smiling faces taking home bright red calligraphic representations of "Love", "Double Happiness", "Prosperity", the "Tiger" to hang in their homes for the New Year.
Ideas for next year: I think the event is so well organized and established at this point that reaching out to Ann Arbor and beyond in a targeted way might really pay off. I think it might be nice to offer some special events and give-aways and discounts to seniors (there are a lot of them in Chelsea!)
Maybe we could ask the CCA (or merchants can create their own) to design some interactive events for the moms and kids, with prizes and shopping coupons etc...there were a lot of families in town. These are just thoughts...whatever you do next year count us in the mix.
"DESTINATION CHELSEA FIRST" For those of you who don't know there is a meeting on Tuesday, February 23 at 6:30 PM at the Chelsea Library to review the results of the focus groups that were created as a result of the marketing efforts and dollars that come from the DDA, the City of Chelsea, and some private donors. ALL ARE WELLCOME...ALL ARE INVITED!! Chocolate Extravaganza is certainly an event that nees to be leveraged in the campaign for Chelsea.
thanks for including us, we enjoy you all,
Deb and Patty
Wow - great recap of the day from the River Gallery. Thanks for writing it all up.
ReplyDeleteI did a bit of shopping at Resale Bliss, Bumbles, Mission Marketplace, the New Chelsea Market, and The Garden Mill, and downtown was buzzing.
The only place I went to that didn't have a chocolate offer was the Farmer's Supply, but they did have licorice candies, and that's good enough for me!
Congratulations is certainly due to Trinh and the other chocolateers.
Also, I like you thoughts about reaching out to seniors and families. Enrolling the CCA for some creative events is also worth pursuing.