How a retail shopping, dining, meeting destination is navigating through the challenges of the pandemic to help their retailers and continue to meet the needs of their customers and clients. Bob McGowan, Chief Operating Officer, and Christine Hensel Triantos, Director of Marketing and Communications for Peddler’s Village in Lahaska Bucks County, PA Guests have favored Peddler’s Village over so many other destinations so how do you keep customers coming back. Making guests feel warmly welcomed has been a longtime priority of Peddler’s Village - and now it’s equally important that they feel safe. We are honored that people are continuing to make us a priority destination - not just those who have visited regularly for years, but new visitors who have recently discovered that there is a unique open-air shopping, dining, strolling, and entertainment “getaway” in the heart of Bucks County, as well. Even for those who visit regularly, we like to keep the Village fresh with new shops, new merchandise, reimagined entertainment and events, and new food and beverage specials in our restaurants. Despite the 2020 challenges, we were able to add three permanent shops and three pop-ups. Our circa-1800s setting might be traditional, but the visitor experience offers exciting contemporary twists.
MARKETING CHANGED. Rapid and clear communication has never been more important than it is now. Circumstances change quickly, and it’s important we constantly deliver up-to-date messaging. We update our website daily, post important news on social media, maintain accurate business info on user platforms such as Google, Yelp and TripAdvisor, and ensure our frontline employees are aware of all changes that might affect our guests and operations. We also strive to keep our tourism partners and media contacts up-to-date. While these practices were in place even before the pandemic, what we are seeing now is heightened engagement online and via phone with guests who have questions or want to share feedback. We have periodically conducted surveys to assess public sentiment and concerns, too. We listen carefully to visitor input and read all posted reviews. In terms of advertising, we have shifted since May to an approach that is almost entirely based on digital ads rather than a combination of print and digital. A digital approach allows us to change quickly both our messaging and our targeted audiences. We’ve had to do both, as changing restrictions and shifting behaviors have significantly shaped our 2020 marketing.
A MAIN FOCUS HEADING INTO 2021. Right now, we are focused on survival! 2020 was a year like no other. It introduced challenges that we had never encountered in its nearly 60 years. It remains to be seen how long these challenges will remain. We are working continuously to create the best possible conditions for our merchants, our guests, our employees, and our own hospitality operations. We are planning to continue our outdoor offerings, including expanded dining and big outdoor weddings. We are grateful that we have made it this far. Our hope is that if we continue to focus first and foremost on the well-being of the many people connected to the Village - our guests, our employees, our merchants, our neighbors, our partners, our community members - our businesses will also remain intact and will again be able to thrive. Steps needed to be taken in order to keep serve customers as various state and local restrictions have continued to unfold. We learned quickly that we needed to be very limber and very creative, and that we had to move very quickly to implement new solutions. The leadership team stays apprised of developments and communicates constantly to share ideas and recommendations that will keep our guests and employees as safe as possible, meet all state and federal requirements, and allow our businesses to operate at the highest possible level. We alter our operations accordingly and communicate important changes to our guests as quickly and as clearly as possible - and then answer their questions as responsively as we can. 24 Januaryz February2021
