STRICTLY BUSINESS: `AFTER DINNER' PROGRAM BEEFS UP PADUCAH DOWNTOWN

A group of Paducah businesses has formed a team to revive business in the downtown area.

The "After Dinner" program has been in effect since mid-April.

Apparently it's working.

Thousands of people have flocked into the downtown area each Saturday night since the program was initiated.

The program was scheduled to end the final Saturday in May, but all participating businesses voted to continue the promotion through the tourist season, ending with the annual "Barbecue On The River" festival the final weekend in September.

Here's what's happening Saturday evenings in downtown Paducah.

More than 50 businesses -- restaurants, clothing stores, antique and gift shops, art galleries, candy and coffee shops, jewelry stores, bakeries, pubs and others -- are open with extended evening hours.

A variety of music, including jazz, gospel, blues, classical, folk and country is performed at various sites throughout the downtown area. In addition, some restaurants and pubs feature special music.

The promotion has been a good one," said Payne Sage of the CVB. "It definitely brings people downtown."

The "After Dinner" program has met three primary objectives, said Tom Erwin, chairman of the program, and a co-owner of Annie's Horse Drawn Carriages.

Team working together

"Creating a downtown team has been the primary objective," said Erwin. "What we have here is a group of independent businesses with not much in common other than their downtown location. This team now works together to aggressively pursue other downtown promotions."

"Another important part of the program has been that people are discovering that we are here," said jeweler Bernard Lewis.

Ray Pelley, of Antiques, Cards & Collectibles, said daily sales had almost doubled since the program started.

The promotion was launched through joint efforts of Annie's Horse Drawn Carriage Service, Paducah-McCracken County Convention & Visitors Bureau, Paducah MainStreet (a downtown merchants group), and the Four Rivers Performing Arts Center.

Downtown Paducah, which was devastated by moves of some big retailers to the Kentucky Oaks Mall several years ago, is made up of a variation of businesses.

More than a dozen antique-collectible shops are situated in the immediate downtown Paducah area, including a half-dozen antique malls. Restaurants, lounges and pubs are plentiful throughout the area, and a number of trendy shops are located in the area, along with overnight lodgings, including bed-and-breakfasts and motels.

And, like Cape Girardeau, the downtown Paducah area is situated along the banks of a major river, the Ohio.

Other major attractions in the downtown Paducah area include the Quilt Museum, Yeiser Art Center, the Downtown Market Museum, and a number of new downtown murals, on the river wall and a few buildings.

A Carbondale program

Meanwhile, in Carbondale, a survey is under way to "track" empty structures along that Southern Illinois city's Main Street in the downtown area.

Of 182 buildings in the city's Main Street boundaries, only 15 are vacant, and that's not a bad occupancy rate, says Joel Fritzler, downtown manager.

The Main Street Economic Restructuring Committee is compiling inventory information, which will be constantly updated as downtown business climate changes.

The inventory survey will track such information as square footage, number of stories, heating and cooling systems, and potential of sub-dividing the space available.

This is information potential developers and renters want, said John Forbes, chairman of the Main Street Committee.

Another effort by the committee is a business survey designed to collect owners' perspectives on the downtown's strengths and weaknesses.

Forbes said results of the surveys should be available soon.

Mutual funds listing

During the past month, since the start of the daily business news package in the Southeast Missourian, a number of new stocks have been added to the daily stock listing.

Coming soon will be a package of mutual funds.

Readers are encouraged to call or fax the Missourian with their requests of stocks and mutual funds, including the name of stocks and bonds and the ticker-tape symbol -- Growth Fund of America (AGTHX), Coca Cola (KO), etc.

The Southeast Missourian started its new business page in May. The page now appears daily Tuesdays through Saturdays and includes business news of the day, stocks of local interest and a graphical review of the stock market.

B. Ray Owen is business editor of the Southeast Missourian.