Quakertown Alive!

According to the BCCT this morning, it looks like the town elders in Quakertown are doing their best to revitalize their downtown area. As always, nothing is done in great leaps. Baby steps, one after another, are the key to success. It's great to see Quakertown Alive! and the rest of the town working together, a key element that need to be more acutely developed here in Morrisville.

What a wistful quote is used to end the story: “Unless you put a river here, we’re never going to be New Hope.”

There's another plus for us. We don't need to be New Hope any more than Quakertown does. We need to be Morrisville. And a river runs through it.


Businesses coming — and going — on Broad Street
As some stores close in downtown Quakertown, others are opening up.
By HILARY BENTMAN

There are signs of new life in downtown Quakertown these days, as a handful of stores have recently opened.

But there are also the telltale markers of a down economy, including at least five vacant stores along Broad Street in the shopping district.

Downtown revitalization in Quakertown has been going on for at least a decade. Efforts have been made to pull people away from the national chain stores that line the strip malls of Route 309 in favor of the mom and pops along the main street of the Upper Bucks burg.

Success has been mixed, but business owners and officials say they are beginning to see a positive shift.

“It’s baby steps,” said Jim Wilson, president of Quakertown Alive!, a nonprofit revitalization group. “The downtown is better than it was a few years ago. We’re at the tipping point.”

In the past few months, Quakertown has seen some significant turnover in businesses.

Ava’s Glass Gallery, on the 300 block of Broad Street, closed earlier this year after being open just a short time. The business has relocated to a home studio outside of the borough.

Some say the store was too specialized, pricey, and did not keep convenient hours.

In its place, Blue Moon, a children’s consignment store, has opened.

A few doors away, the Broad Street Gallery shut down in April after 17 years. Owner Steve Swann blamed the lack of downtown foot traffic for the demise. He has a second location in the Quakertown Farmer’s Market, known as Swann Art and Frame, and has consolidated operations there.

Already the Broad Street Gallery space has been claimed. All Things Bridal and Cindy Landis Photography Studio, both owned by Cindy Landis, will move in next month, relocating from Route 309 in Colmar.

“It’s the nature of retail to have businesses come and go,” said Wilson, noting that people are inquiring about available space. “I don’t think we’ve seen anything drastically [different].”

The current economic slump is certainly playing a part in the empty storefronts, some argue.

“I’m sure it has an effect on it. People aren’t able to start up a business and there’s the price of fuel,” said Rich Scott, manager of Moyer’s Shoes, a mainstay on Broad Street for over half a century. He says Moyer’s secret is catering to people with special shoe needs.

Parking is also a problem, say some shop owners. Meters line the streets and there is limited parking in the center of the shopping area.

On the dining end, Quakertown has gotten a boost of late. The relatively new Front Street Café, across from the Quakertown Train Station, is attracting crowds with its more upscale fare.

And Broadway Café is now open on the 200 block of Broad Street, next to Miss Cindy’s School of Dance. Jay Johnston has owned the building since 1992, and recently decided to open up the restaurant, a cross between a 1950s retro diner and a shrine to New York City’s theatre district.

“People gotta eat,” said Johnston in his southern drawl. The restaurant has proven a convenient place for students at the nearby Miss Cindy’s School of Dance, his wife’s business, to grab a bite to eat and for their parents to wait.

“[Quakertown] has great potential and I do see some progress,” Johnston said. “It’s an all-American, small town atmosphere, friendly people. It’s a great little town here.”

Next door is the Katie Stauffer Memorial Arts Center, which recently took over the former Cohen’s card shop space when it outgrew its old location in Richlandtown.

“We decided we would do better if we moved into Quakertown, more visibility,” said president and founder Linda Stauffer.

From pottery to bead weaving, young and old can take art classes at the center, which also works with homeschooled children and will soon partner with the Bucks County Intermediate Unit to offer classes for special education students.

The Stauffer center has even started a First Friday event, which brings in local artists and live music. A few surrounding businesses are starting to join in.

“We’re just trying to get things going down there,” said Stauffer.

Although already open for business, the center will have its official grand opening June 24, a special date for Stauffer, as it would have marked her daughter Katie’s 25th birthday. Katie, a 2001 Quakertown High School grad and standout student, artist and swimmer, was killed in a car accident in March 2003.

“I read Katie’s journal [after she died] and she said she hoped to make a difference. I have to continue that for her,” said Linda, a retired art teacher.

Wilson is hoping the combination of the art center, Broadway Café and a nearby pretzel shop will help draw more kids to the downtown. “There is nothing like youth to bring energy to a block,” he said.

In the end, Quakertown’s economy depends on promoting the town’s uniqueness, he said. Although there have been successful models to follow in other towns in the region, Wilson said Quakertown must stay true to itself.

“Unless you put a river here, we’re never going to be New Hope,” he said.