After several years of slow economic actvity in Keremeos’ downtown core, it appears a business renewal on Seventh Avenue is underway.
An example of a revitalized business section may be made of events that took place Saturday night during the recent long weekend.
Special activities were planned by several businesses, in addition to the recently revived rodeo dance, which had taken a hiatus for several years before reappearing last year.
What was planned for Saturday night speaks well of the business optimism and enterpreneurial spirit in the village; the outcome, however, might not have suited everyone’s bottom line.
In the case of the rodeo dance, things didn’t go according to plan. This year’s turnout was abyssmally low, and it appears that a major reason has to do with the fact that at least four other venues were offering entertainment this weekend, stretching the patron base a little thin.
We have not heard from private business whether they were satisfied with business on the long weekend, but the rodeo dance experience may possibly suggest that too many people getting the same idea at the same time isn’t a good thing.
Keremeos and the Lower Similkameen must contend with the fact that at any given time, there is a limit to a businesses’ customer base, especially when it comes to a local event. There are many weekends in the year when very little in the way of special events take place - we wonder if some local merchants might be better off scheduling a special performance for these dates, rather than trying to compete with each other during the weekends where there is a high expectation of customer support.
It’s good to see renewed interest in the business community, and great to see so many venues offering special events. It’s great to have that kind of choice back in the community again. It would be a shame to lose any of it because of too many instances like what took place Saturday night.