Future Freeport

thinking about the place, community and economy of Freeport, Maine

Search Engine Marketing Ideas for Locally-owned Freeport ME Businesses

In addition to being a conversation starter, I want this blog to be useful–to make some tangible impact on the economic future of Freeport, ME.

The post I wrote about strengthening locally-owned businesses in Freeport (A Citizen Marketing Campaign to Boost the Freeport, Maine Economy) clearly struck a chord with people. Lots of great public and private comments from business owners, and plenty of residents excited about trying to help with the concept of a Local’s Guide to Freeport, ME. I continue to think that a concerted effort at promoting our locally-owned businesses is one way to assure a future economy for Freeport, ME that benefits residents and positions our town as unique and different for visitors.

So over the course of the last couple blogless weeks (my apologies–it’s summer and I’m a little busy at work), I’ve been observing web search patterns as they relate to local Freeport businesses. This post looks at opportunities within search engine marketing (SEM), as one element of an overall marketing campaign to boost locally-owned Freeport businesses.

Someone may know the stats on the percentage of visitors to Freeport that do internet research before their trip, but judging from the general web trends within the vacation and hospitality categories, it is fair to assume it is significant. With the proliferation of smart phones, more people are researching while on their way or once they’re here. For any locally-owned business seeking to capitalize on this traffic, a successful web presence, and particular attention to how web searchers find you, will be well worth some time and effort.

Here are my initial thoughts on some basic web and search engine marketing tactics locally-owned Freeport businesses (as well as citizens who wish to support them) can follow. These make take some time, but all can be achieved at no cost.

1. Claim your business on the major local search engines–Google and Yahoo. Google Local (the same thing as Google Maps) and Yahoo Local remain the dominant players. Everyone searching Google who uses a locationally-based term will generally get Google Maps as a top search result. The opportunity to be in the top position with a direct link to your business is huge, but if you haven’t taken control of your own listing, chances are that link won’t be right. Claim your business on Google here. Claim your business on Yahoo Local here.

2. Keep watch on other local directory aggregators, both old and new. The local search war has been and will always be one of the web’s wildest categories. I’m not expert enough in the local search game to recommend these, but there are many sites both old school (local.com, citysearch, yellowpages, insiderpages, etc) and new school (Yelp, Merchant Circle, Kudzu, Angies List, Smalltown and many more). Fundamentally, these business models are trying to rank for search on your business name, and you don’t want to lose that to anyone. Of these, I cautiously recommend checking out Yelp. It takes a social networking slant with user reviews, has very strong traffic, is one of the most popular iPhone applications and has some traction within Freeport. Yelp has strength: a review of Buck’s Naked I wrote on Yelp is currently ranking higher for the search term “bucks freeport me” than Buck’s own site. The place to list your business on Yelp is here.

3. Engage your customers by asking them to write reviews. Within the local search category, user reviews are increasingly critical. Most of the local search engines are displaying user reviews with your listing. And while I can’t prove this, the Google algorithm likes engagement, so I suspect that businesses with higher levels of user engagement will rank better. In my research, the review engines that are most important for Freeport businesses are Google, Yahoo, TripAdvisor and Yelp. These get aggregated across many of the other local search sites. Residents of town can help by taking a little time occasionally to review your favorite local businesses on these sites.

4. Check your listing on FreeportUSA.com. If your business is listed on the Freeport Merchant’s Association site, make sure it is accurate. I’ve come across a number that have incorrect, non-existent or bad links. Keep in mind that until you’ve established your own web presence, the inherent strength of freeportusa.com, given its age, traffic and pagerank, is likely to siphon your traffic.

5. Get your own web presence. If you don’t yet have a site, you should. It is critical to winning search traffic and the best way to communicate with the world about your business. The Derosier’s website, IMO, is a great example of a local business site that is simple but conveys a great story. You need something, and it is better to have a couple pages live than to wait to launch the sophisticated website of your dreams.

6. Consider a blog to support your website. The White Cedar Inn Blog and the Freeport Cheese & Wine Blog are two businesses in town that are effectively using this alternative publishing platform to capture traffic. Search engines tend to rank blog content high, so they are an excellent way to capture traffic around secondary search terms. For example, on the search term “l.l. bean concert series,” White Cedar Inn is in position #4 and Future Freeport Blog is in position #6. Beyond search, a blog is a great way to maintain an ongoing dialogue with customers and the community.

There’s much much more to say on this topic. Please let me know in the comments if you have other thoughts and especially if you find posts like this to be useful. Thanks.

P.S. Adam Nappi and I hatched an idea to get together some evening with laptops to write local business reviews. Wendy Caisse at Buck’s has agreed to host us. We’re working on a date. If you are interested, send me an email at ptroast at gmail dot com.

P.S.S. I’ve been continuing to add businesses to the Local’s Guide to Freeport, ME Google Map. Traffic to it is growing nicely. But it still isn’t a complete list. Please take a look and let me know what locally-owned businesses I’m missing.

Thanks to all the Commenters

I’ve said a couple times that “a blog is a conversation.” My greatest wish in launching the Future Freeport blog is that it would stimulate a conversation in Freeport, Maine about our town’s future. In a blog, particularly one about a town, the conversation takes place in the comments. It’s where the action is.

A comment this morning from Phil, one of the family members carrying forward the 5 generation phenomenon that is Desrosier’s, reminded me that this is off to a great start. In gratitude to the people who have engaged in Future Freeport, now seems like a good time to highlight some of the great comments people have contributed so far.

Here are a few of my favorites:

At the end of the day Freeport is still a small town of 7500 people and therein lies both its limitations AND its charm. You see, Freeport doesn’t have to pretend to be authentic - it is, you just need to look around. Phil

While shopping may be the goose that lays the golden egg, Freeport has far more to offer. These other facets of Freeport can only enliven and enrich the Freeport experience for visitor and resident alike. The result is an improved economy for all. If this is, as you say, a knuckleheaded opinion, I want you to know that there are many of us knuckleheads around that share those thoughts, so you needn’t feel alone.  Dick Collins, Freeport Merchants Association.

What separates Freeport shopping from Kittery shopping? Are we just another outlet shopping desitnation on the coast of Maine or are we headed in another direction? I am a big fan of the Portland Buy Local movement, Freeport seem miles apart. Freeport seems more aligned with Kittery. John “Jake” Jaques

So how can Freeport strengthen its brand by re-asserting its diversity and authenticity? I think that Main Street needs a major storefront presence that clearly serves the locals’ quotidian needs. A library, for instance - but you already have one of those. How about a Reny’s? Or even a Rite Aid - ANYTHING that serves Freeport’s downtown residents inexpensively would also send a valuable message to tourists that this is still a real, functioning village center, that serves real people.  Christian

I’m with you 100% regarding Buck’s. National chains cheapen Freeport’s experience. I am concerned about the scale of the new parking garage. The energy and resources that went into that project may have served Freeport better had it integrated a future train station. Dan

I had (almost) exactly the same thoughts when I read about the Apple store’s move to the Mall area - the only difference in my reaction being that I thought Apple belonged in downtown Portland instead. I’m a devoted Apple customer, but I will never visit their store if they locate in the Maine Mall area. C Neal

I think this is a great conversation to continue…I do think it is time to consider the genuine local community in Freeport. Enabling true community by encouraging independent businesses, widening our scope of bike and walking accessible destinations and making our public schools the highest priority will provide the framework for prosperity and true community. Naomi C O Beal

Isnt Freeport already tipped dangerously toward being a “lifestyle center”? (That phrase makes me shiver.) DeRosiers, Bow Street Market, Azure, and a handful of other local businesses are all that stand between Freeport and mini-mall status. How can we help nudge our town the other way? Jenny Melville

Lots of people have chimed in privately in email (and I’ll protect their identities) but have been inspirational to me in keeping this going:

What the World is Saying about Freeport, ME–the Brand Stewardship Challenge of a Town

On Wednesday, we “made” Blogging Stocks, an important, well-read blog that is part of the AOL/Weblogs Inc blog network. It wasn’t exactly a favorable write up. Here’s the post: Big Company, small town: L.L. Bean, Freeport, Maine.

The paragraph that stung me the most was this one:

With the tremendous success of L.L. Bean, Freeport has become a town dedicated to one thing: shopping. Shops on the town’s main street are now almost all outlet stores or lunch places for shoppers. This is part of the downside of big-time success in a small town. Where once there were hardware stores and grocery shops, now there are discount socks and polo shirts. The saddest case is probably the elegant old town library, built by Carnegie in 1906. It now houses an Abercrombie & Fitch outlet store. So if you need a book or a hammer or a gallon of milk, you might be out of luck in today’s Freeport.

As I’ve written before, our brand is whatever people perceive it to be, and while I don’t mean to fan the flames of negativity, it’s important to understand what others, particularly influential writers and bloggers, say about our town. Brutal, honest clarity about how your brand is perceived has to be the starting place for changing it.

Brands are stories. When they’re told repeatedly, they gain traction. Freeport’s story, from the perspective of the visitor/outsider, seems indelibly stuck in “L.L. Bean, outlets, lobster.” I’ve been  trying to make the point on this blog that there is a richer, deeper, and much more compelling way to frame the Freeport experience. In the comment I left on the Blogging Stocks post, here’s my attempt at that pitch:

Up here in Freeport, we’re grateful for the attention, but I’m afraid you’ve mis-characterized our town. Yes, in the one block immediately surrounding L.L. Bean, a variety of national retailers have flocked here to seize on that traffic. But overall Freeport remains a one-of-a-kind national and local retail mix, set in a historic Maine village, that will never be replicated by the trendy but vapid “lifestyle center” malls.

Within the walkable Village core surrounding the Bean campus you will find: a 105 year old sandwich and ice cream market run by the  same family for 5 generations; the town’s high school and early elementary school; the Bow Street Market–a locally owned and operated grocery and butcher shop; the Harraseeket Inn–a hotel with two restaurants that has been the state’s pioneer in sourcing locally-grown organic produce; at least 10 restaurants, none of which are chains, with eclectic choices well beyond lobster; and, coming soon, an Amtrak Station on the Downeaster Line that will drop passengers off in the heart of the Village. (OK, Freeport Hardware is located just outside the core village.)

All of us bristle at the idea of Abercrombie in the old library, but the reality is that building is about as practical for modern library needs as the one room school house. So the new library moved just down the road. Thanks to the Freeport Historical Society’s vigilance, and strict planning rules, all of the original buildings have been preserved, even if their tenants aren’t, well, historically relevant.

Within Freeport, there is an emerging Buy Local movement that  clearly understands the 3-4X economic value of local businesses to the local economy versus the chains. More is written about this on the Future Freeport Blog and on the Local’s Guide to Freeport Maine.

And, while your point about diversity in Maine and Freeport is a fair one (but evolving too), don’t let the subtlety of that reference mislead anyone: the Onion originated “boycott” of L.L. Bean is a parody, a funny one to be sure, but a JOKE.

Look me up when you are back here next and we’d happily show you the other side of Freeport, ME.

Peter Troast

You can see the story I’m trying to tell: much more than Bean and outlets, genuine, authentic, local, historic, one-of-a-kind. I’m just one knucklehead with a point of view, so please chime in and help shape this story.

All this raises that question of who’s in charge. Companies have teams of people charged with stewarding their brands. Good ones, when their brands get attacked, have constant monitoring, clear brand platforms that guide them and rapid response programs.

When a town is a brand, and a brand is a town, who is responsible for stewardship?

Note: I know a great many local people reading this fundamentally agree with the Blogging Stocks writer. The local perspective on Freeport is another topic I’m thinking about and expect to write more on as Future Freeport evolves.

A Citizen Marketing Campaign to Boost the Freeport, Maine Economy

If it wasn’t obvious before, it is clear from the comments and feedback I’m receiving about Future Freeport that this is a town divided on what it means to be economically successful. So I’ve been thinking about ideas and initiatives that can unify us.

One thing I think we can all agree on is supporting locally-owned businesses.

There is quite a lot of research on the economic impact of locally-owned businesses vs. chain stores. The Institute for Local Self-Reliance looked at this issue for Rockland and Belfast and found that for every $100 spent at a local business, $45 remained in the local economy. For chains, only $14 of $100 remained. Many other benefits are outlined in their excellent report, “10 Reasons Why Maine’s Homegrown Economy Matters”, (click here to download the pdf) which was partially funded by L.L. Bean.

Putting on my marketing hat, I’m of the opinion that Freeport’s unique mix of national retailers and locally-owned shops is one of the critical competitive differentiators that will assure our future success. I wrote about this in more detail in my Think Different post.

There is a vibrant Buy Local movement sweeping the country that is having a real impact. The Portland Buy Local campaign has catalyzed the Portland community around independent businesses. Owners I’ve spoken to report the impact has been tangible. They’ve shown that small shifts in the proportion of shopping dollars going to local businesses can have a big economic impact. Freeport may want to consider replicating what Portland and hundreds of other communities around the country have done by forming a Buy Local organization. But, in the meantime, I think there is a more efficient and less time-intensive way to make a strong impact.

In our community, the opportunity is greater than just Freeport residents doing more shopping at local Freeport stores. The real upside for us, I think, is in helping to guide the 3.5 million visitors coming here to spend more of their shopping dollars at local businesses. Everybody wants local advice. Where’s the best chowder? The best place to stay? Where can I get one-of-a-kind Maine-made crafts?

So this morning I created a Google Map called Local’s Guide to Freeport, Maine. On it, I’ve begun (just barely) to add a few of my favorite local businesses. I’ve also co-located this map on a permanent Local’s Guide page here on Future Freeport. Then, from the links on the map, I used Google’s review functionality to write reviews on two of them–click these links to see my reviews of the Bow Street Market and Buck’s Naked BBQ. (In Google, my identity is PT.)

Want to join this effort? Here’s what you can do:

1. Help me build the list of local businesses. Add your list here in comments or send them to me in email and I’ll add them to the map. (Alternatively, if you’d like to get more involved, let me know and I’ll add you to the map as a collaborator.) My working definition of a “locally-owned business” borrowed from Portland, is here.

2. Write some reviews. Anyone with a Google account can write reviews. It took 10 minutes to write those two. There are few marketing weapons as powerful as user-generated reviews and none that I can think of that have as much impact and authority as local people reviewing local businesses. It won’t take many people writing one review/day to make a big difference.

3. Spread the word about the Local’s Guide to Freeport, Maine. The more people who visit the map, link to it and bookmark it, the more likely it will rise to the top in search. If we can get this map to be more prominent in searches for “Freeport, Maine” the impact could be huge.

4. Share your ideas in the comments. I’ve only scratched the surface of all the cool things that can be done with Google Maps. If you have ideas, GIS or other skills and want to help, that would be great.

As ever, let me know what you think.

Links and Resources:

Business Alliance for Local Living Economies

American Independent Business Alliance

Portland Buy Local

Local Harvest

Institute for Local Self-Reliance

Making the Future Freeport Blog Work for You (and me)

I’m taking a timeout from substantive posting this week to address some of questions I’m getting about the Future Freeport blog and how to participate in it.

First, let me say how grateful I am for all the positive feedback and encouragement I’ve received from everyone about Future Freeport. It appears I’ve tapped a nerve that lots of people in town are thinking about.

Some of the private questions I’ve been getting in emails:

What is the best way to read Future Freeport and, in particular, to know when there is a new post?

How do comments work and will my email address be exposed publicly?

In response, I’ve created a permanent “For New Readers” page that answers these questions. (And, no, your email address won’t be shown publicly.)

Comments Please (the “me” part).

It’s been said that “a blog is a conversation.” That is my primary hope for Future Freeport. The point of the posts I’ve written–about avoiding chain restaurants, attracting the right quality retailers and positioning Freeport for the new transportation reality–is to encourage discussion. For something that’s only been alive for a few weeks, I’m pleased with the response so far. I’ve heard from lots of people, but most of those comments have been in email, on the phone or in person. They aren’t, therefore, part of the permanent record of the blog and aren’t accessible for the community of readers to see. So, please take a moment to add your thoughts in the comment section.

(Full details about my commenting policy and answers to you privacy questions are on the For New Readers Page.)

Thanks much.

Critical Steps to Making Freeport, Maine a Premier Transit-Oriented Destination (TOD)

In early May, a speaker at a USM Corporate Partners meeting called the escalating cost of oil “a looming, impending, rolling catastrophe” for Maine. “We’re in the cross hairs of a disaster,” he said, and if the predictions of $200-300/barrel crude oil are borne out, “Maine essentially will become uninhabitable” in the next dozen years.

Howard Kunstler or one of the other Peak Oil crazies?

Nope.

These are the words of Angus King. And the oil price prediction? That is from the radical environmentalists at Goldman Sachs.

In the words of my 13 year old…holy crap.

Not exactly a rosy future scenario for a town economy built on 3.5 million tourists per year virtually all of whom arrive here by automobile.

So what do we do?

We need, IMO, a Marshall Plan-like effort at Transit-oriented Development (TOD)–the planning world’s name for communities anchored around an alternative transportation hub. And, to ratchet this idea up a notch or two, we need to position Freeport nationally as one of the country’s premier Transit-Oriented Destinations–a place you can get to without a car and, upon arrival, where you can move around without one.

The good news, thanks to the genius of historic village settlement patterns, is that we have many of the core assets required of TOD’s and Transit Villages–a walkable core village, most of our development concentrated in a center and, soon, a train. Still, there a number of steps we can be taking now to position ourselves for this pending future.

1. Getting ready for the train and doing it right.

All continues to go well for the Downeaster train to be extended north to Freeport and Brunswick within the next few years. First priority is station location: it should be on Depot Street near the Hose Tower Information Center. (TOD experts say a .25 mile or 5 minute walk is the critical radius; by my calcs, the new L.L. Bean Hunting & Fishing Store is just short of that distance; the Bow Street Market just a bit farther.) Next is doing the station right. The Downeaster will only provide a platform. I think, over time, we’ll recognize that a station experience that makes a statement will be important. (In Saco, they’re thinking big about their new station–clock tower, powered by wind, heated by geothermal.) Obviously, we have to figure out how to fund it, and perhaps it evolves over time, but we should be planning for a building that elevates the arrival experience and is architecturally significant.

2. Alternative transportation within town.

Within town, we need a shuttle system for getting around outside the walkable core that alleviates the need for a car. If you’ve ever been to Sugarloaf, there’s your model. From the crack of dawn to the last bar closing, you can catch a free shuttle anywhere in Carrabassett Valley. With a great system in place, those arriving by car can leave it on the outskirts of town. Perception problems about parking and accessibility are alleviated. (Just imagine the competitive advantage over Kittery and the Maine Mall Sprawl, for example.) And town residents begin to feel that the village is no longer given over exclusively to tourists. Perhaps most critically, a successful and regular shuttle system would allow us reclaim precious acres of land in the core village we currently sacrifice to parking lots.

3. Focusing future development within the core village.

With a laser focus on TOD, we should become more vigilant about assuring that people-centered development be concentrated in the core. Ultimately, the success of Freeport as a transit-oriented destination rests on the breadth and depth of the experience we provide within the walkable village. Long sought after amenities, like movie theaters, additional restaurants and other draws should be in the village rather than Route One South. Zoning changes should be carefully considered if, in any way, they encourage development that could be downtown from locating elsewhere. And the pedestrian experience from the train station, which the great folks at the Freeport Community Improvement Association have stewarded so well throughout the rest of town, needs to become a top priority. (Berenson–have you considered that 15 years from now the front door of Village Station might be the side facing the train station?)

4. Positioning Freeport as a Transit-oriented Destination.

Even if the Maine future Angus predicts is only half right, the prospects for communities and businesses dependent on destination travel aren’t especially rosy. We’ll know a lot more about the impact of $4/gallon gas after this summer, but I suspect all of Maine will look back on this tourist season as an ugly barometer of the new world order to come. (Have you heard the new term “staycation”? Yikes.) But I am a marketer and I know that getting Freeport positioned correctly ahead of the curve will pay future benefits. An aggressive plan to become the premier transit-oriented destination is extremely newsworthy and can generate lots of buzz–low-cost, high-impact marketing that will build the Freeport brand. (BTW–did you notice how many times in this post I’ve written “transit-oriented destination”? Give it a week or so and let’s see how Google responds…)

5. Aggressively competing for transportation funds.

I’m sure many reading this are saying, “WTF Troast, Freeport can barely afford $48K for a decent math program in our schools.” A very fair point. But crises create change, and I believe radical shifts in how and what gets funded in the arena of transportation are on the way. At every level of government, the balance of transportation dollars going to alternative forms versus roads has to change. The car-centric largess of dinosaurs like the Maine Turnpike Turnpork Authority (LOL credit C Neal) will eventually come to an end. As funding dollars shift, Freeport needs to be at the front of the line, with great projects and strong rationale. And that means starting now.

Most communities can only dream of an existing train line through a walkable village. This is a unique moment in time for Freeport. Let’s seize it.

Additional Links & Resources

Very good MaineBiz article by Sara Donnelly about the train and Brunswick’s aggressive TOD plans.

Transit Oriented Development Website

Transit Villages Website

Rights of Way transportation blog

Six Reasons Why Freeport is a Better Location for an Apple Retail Store than the Maine Mall

An Apple Computer retail store is finally coming to Maine. Justin Ellis of the Portland Press Herald broke the story in mid-April (after discovering job postings by Apple), but to date there has been no formal announcement of timing or location. The job posts, unfortunately, indicate the location is the Maine Mall so it’s possible that this post is too late. But no one I’m aware of, including the vigilant folks who write about the Maine Mall on the LabelScar blog, can identify a specific site under construction yet. Apple brilliantly controls its PR and is notoriously clever in their public relations. Maybe, just maybe, this isn’t a done deal.

Apple’s retail strategy, thoroughly detailed here on the ifoAppleStore blog, is driven by the company’s effort to gain market share, and is partially credited (along with the tagalong effect of iPod sales) with their recent steady gains in the personal computer market. In simple terms, high traffic retail locations enable Apple to expose their array of elegant products to a broad audience of PC/Windows suckers like me (I’m writing this post from Dell Hell) and to debunk firsthand all the old “doesn’t work on a mac” myths. The steady creep of iPods and other entry-level devices eventually lead to iMacs and PowerBooks. At a time when bricks and mortar retail successes are scarce, Apple’s strategy is rocking. From essentially nothing in 2001, Apple retail revenues surpassed $4 billion in 2007.

Being in an Apple store is a phenomenal experience. Great displays, unbelievably cool products, just the right service touch, free wireless, a free genius bar to get your technical questions and issues resolved. The locations of the stores fit in two camps: big, high profile, architecturally stunning “flagships” (like the recently unveiled Boyleston Street store in Boston) and smaller, inline stores typically located in malls. For the smaller locations, ifoAppleStore says that Apple has a preference for lifestyle malls that have other attractions besides shopping–theaters, restaurants and other “experiential” activities.

Looking at Maine, there are probably only three locations that could deliver the traffic volume that Apple’s strategy demands–the Maine Mall, downtown Portland or Freeport.

Here is my case for why Freeport would be a better location than the Mall:

1. A “flagship” store opportunity.

Freeport’s new Village Station project provides Apple with an opportunity for an externally facing, highly customizable store location akin to it’s flagship locations in major cities. Village Station is in the heart of high traffic Freeport, directly across Main Street from L.L. Bean. The project is under construction now and, for Apple, I’m sure the developers would work a package for an architecturally significant presence in a premier anchor location.

2. A location that better serves all of Maine.

Thanks to Maine’s laptop program (high five to Angus), the distribution of Apple’s “presence” in the state is geographically broad. It is a fair assumption that we’ll be a one Apple store state for the foreseeable future, and the ideal location would serve all of Maine. Locating just slightly north of Portland is a nod to Apple’s current and future customers in northern and eastern Maine, while remaining easily accessible to folks from the south and west. (Presumably people living in far southern Maine will continue to use Apple’s locations in tax-free New Hampshire.)

3. A true experiential shopping destination.

Apple likes lifestyle centers where there are activities beyond just shopping. Freeport is the ultimate experiential shopping location–the original lifestyle center–offering attractions you can’t find anywhere else: the L.L. Bean Outdoor Discovery Schools, where you can take walk-on lessons in fly casting, archery and kayaking for just $15; an emerging “see-it-made” retail/manufacturing sector led by Wilburs Chocolatiers, Simply Divine Brownies and Cold River Vodka; an exciting array of great, authentic, locally-owned restaurants and bars (see my prior post about Bucks Naked BBQ and the restaurant sector); a terrific free summer concert series with major national acts. And there are lots of future plans, including Bean’s outdoor adventure center, that will continue to enrich the Freeport experience.

In contrast, the Maine Mall’s efforts to add more experiential component have fallen flat. In April, the Mall’s owner, General Growth Properties, abandoned a $20 million expansion plan that would have included a new theater and new restaurants.

4. The decline of the Maine Mall.

Thanks to sprawl zoning policies, the mall area is fast becoming the place you go out of your way to avoid. It is increasingly congested and ugly, a seemingly endless march of standalone big boxes and adjacent mini-malls all separated from each other by a mile or two and 15 minutes of red lights. These ancillary malls, like the one anchored by Target, or the new Cabela’s Gateway Shoppes, suck energy and store prospects from the Maine Mall. And there’s evidence that the impact of this is real. The new theater and food court project is dead. The old Filenes remains vacant as do a number of storefronts within the mall. With a few exceptions, the new brands that have located there aren’t exactly top tier stores. The Stroudwater project proposed in neighboring Westbrook is most likely a pipe dream, but is being positioned to draw premier stores away from the mall. How any one location will be able to thrive amidst the store dispersion and mall sprawl taking place in S. Portland, Scarborough and Westbrook isn’t clear.

Meanwhile, Freeport continues to concentrate the focus and energy in its walkable, core village anchored by L.L. Bean.

5. Higher quality traffic and better demographics.

Freeport sees 3.5 million visitors every year and is the top tourist destination in the state. While the mall may be able to claim higher shopper volume (GGP doesn’t publish Mall traffic volume), the quality of that traffic is questionable. Freeport’s demographics are better than what the Mall publishes publicly. With the battle for high-end customers continuing, the Mall’s prospects for improving demographic characteristics don’t seem good.

6. A shopping destination with a future transportation plan.

With crude oil over $130/barrel and gas prices around $4/gallon, any long-term retail strategy needs to contemplate the decline of the automobile as the sole form of transportation. In Freeport, prospects look very positive for expansion of the Amtrak Downeaster north of Portland by 2010, and the train stop in town is immediately adjacent to the Village Station project, providing walkable access to the heart of the village.

The most important principle for Freeport’s future–Think Different

One of the things I’m sure to repeat often here is my belief that Freeport’s future economy depends on differentiation.

Freeport’s brand position is the perception people have of us vs. other similar or competitive places. It is whatever is in the heads of someone thinking of moving here, of companies considering locating to town or of tourists deciding where to visit/shop.

Freeport’s success to date is because it is one-of-a-kind. No other place has the L.L. Bean flagship store and Outdoor Discovery Schools. No other place has as diverse a local and national chain store shopping experience integrated in a traditional New England village. No other place has the Mast Landing School. There are obviously lots more differentiators, but you get the point.

Like the famous campaign that restored Apple’s reputation, Freeport needs to Think Different.

Our future strength rests on a commitment to looking at each development decision through a lens of whether it will make us different than our competition or push us towards sameness.

It is one of the reasons I think it is wrong to be positioning the new Freeport Village Center as a “lifestyle center.” Lifestyle Centers are a relatively new mall concept that tries to duplicate the street feel of traditional village architecture (wikipedia definition here.) There’s a good piece on them in Slate called “The Mall Goes Undercover“, and a CNN/Money article says:

“Unlike the massive, windowless 800,000 square foot suburban malls anchored by a discount or department store like Target or Sears, lifestyle centers tend to be smaller, around 50,000 square feet. They’re often open-air venues — like a cute little village — and are devoid of an anchor store.”

It’s the “cute little village” bit that disturbs me. Freeport is the original lifestyle center–the real, genuine shopping village that these fabricated mini-malls are trying to replicate. We have history, authenticity and realness that they will never have. Lifestyle centers are our competition. We should be trying to crush them, not follow them.

2008 L.L. Bean Summer Concert Series–very cool

I’m psyched about this year’s L.L. Bean Concert Series. Solid acts, a great outdoor setting and FREE. Yep, no charge.

Within the Portland/Southern Maine music scene, the Bean Discovery Park “venue” fits a missing niche for good, mid-sized bands that are too expensive for bars and not big enough for the Civic Center. That L.L. Bean subsidizes the shows so we can see them free is, well, just darn nice of them. Thanks.

Here’s the full schedule, which I wasn’t able to find in html with links to the bands, anywhere else on the web.

FREE Concerts in the Park
2008 L.L. BEAN Summer Concert Series
All concerts begin at 7:30 p.m.
L.L.Bean’s Discovery Park in Freeport, Maine

Saturday, June 14
APRIL VERCH
Canadian Fiddle

Saturday, June 21
BIG BAD VOODOO DADDY
Swing

Saturday, June 28
MARTIN SEXTON
Contemporary Folk

Friday, July 4
TOBY LIGHTMAN
Contemporary Pop

Saturday, July 5
DARYL HALL
Pop

Saturday, July 12
KATHY MATTEA
Acoustic Country

Saturday, July 19
PORTLAND SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Classical

Saturday, July 26
BUDDY HOLLY’S ORIGINAL CRICKETS
50’s Rock and Roll

Saturday, August 2
BRANDI CARLILE with guest JASON SPOONER
Contemporary Folk

Saturday, August 9
RICHIE HAVENS
Folk

Saturday, August 16
THE JERRY DOUGLAS BAND
Contemporary Bluegrass

Saturday, August 23
JOHN HIATT AND THE AGELESS BEAUTIES
Contemporary Folk

Saturday, August 30
LONESTAR
Pop Country

Sunday, August 31
KEB’ MO’
Pop Blues

* All programs will be ASL Interpreted. Concerts may be
cancelled in the event of inclement weather and will not be
rescheduled. For updates, call L.L. BEAN toll-free at 877·755·2326

The new Buck’s Naked BBQ (and what it could have been)

There is a lot to love about the new Buck’s Naked BBQ. But my favorite thing is that it is not the Applebee’s that almost located in the same spot.

If you haven’t checked out the new Buck’s since they moved to the old Dexter Shoe Outlet next to old Maggies, go NOW. The parking lot’s been packed since they opened in early April and for good reason. Alex and Wendy Caisse and their team have done an incredible job creating a genuine roadhouse where the atmosphere is fun, funky and authentic. I’m not sure I’ve seen a restaurant/bar anywhere that does such a good job of balancing adult friendly and kid friendly. A waiting area bar at one end somehow coexists with the custom built kid house at the far other end. The food has always been good, especially the signature BBQ cooked in a genuine wood-fired smoker, but the new menu is expanded and has lots of options, including plenty of choices if you’re not a BBQ freak. The team is energetic and clearly enjoying their early success.

Few people know that the national chain, Applebee’s, looked hard at the same location. What an awesome victory for Freeport that Buck’s succeeded over the “largest casual dining restaurant concept in the world.” Why? Because, there is only one Buck’s Naked BBQ, and it only exists in Freeport, Maine. You can find one of nearly 2000 Applebee’s just about anywhere. Buck’s elevates Freeport. Applebee’s would have genericized us.

Let’s just hope the other chain restaurants that have been circling Freeport–like Ruby Tuesdays–also decide against locating here.

Buck’s is the latest in a growing cluster of great, locally-owned, genuine restaurants that strongly differentiate Freeport as a place and destination. We should be doing more to encourage them, including the possibility of a ban on any more chain food businesses, as Portland has done.

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