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Merchants on Nostrand Avenue Have a First Meeting
On Wednesday, April 8 a group of Nostrand Avenue merchants met at Another World at 629 Nostrand Avenue to talk about problems on the avenue and what might be done to deal with them. There were five businesses represented at the meeting and a sixth wrote that she would have liked to come but something pressing came up. Kelly Shine of Wayward Hairdresser asked to be informed about what happened and said she would come to a follow up meeting. Besides the five merchants there were three people who acted in support. Emma Steele got the merchants to sign in as they arrived. Okay Ukah acted as secretary, taking careful notes, and Brian Lee contributed his insights as a long-time community resident. The merchants who came were Cowan of Red, White and Blue Tax Services on Park Place, Richard Pak of Merritt Cleaners, Regina Brooks of the UPS store on Bergen Street, Zmadi Koji of Zola Natural Herbs, and also Ruby of Simple Syrup.
The meeting began with the merchants introducing themselves and talking about any concerns they have. Regina Brooks said she was mostly happy. Her business is doing well and she usually gets along well with her customers. One issue is that of package theft. Sometimes customers blame UPS for packages that are stolen. Regina tries to get customers to make arrangements for safe deliveries rather than go to the police. She says the police are often too little, too late and that it is better to have customers figure out how to make sure their packages are not left out in the open. She also added that UPS has a ten-year lease, making long range planning much easier.
UPS Store on Bergen Street 7.1
Cowan of RWB Tax Services also had few complaints. He said his side of Nostrand Avenue is mostly clean and benefits from the presence of a public school further down the block on Park Place. Guards keep an eye on things. He added that the new plastic garbage cans and regular pick-ups have reduced the presence of rats. He pointed out that his business has a month to month rental arrangement that has worked well. There have been no rent increases; however, he is responsible for any repairs.
Richard of Merritt Cleaners said his business had been around since 2014 and that the neighboorhood has improved since then. However, he pointed out that there are problems. Foremost is the large number of empty store fronts, and that more stores seem to be leaving versus the number of new ones that are opening. He also said that for awhile the store was harassed by a group of older children but that this eventually stopped. He thinks some of them grew up and moved on and some may have been arrested for more serious crimes. He also said the police were not helpful. However, he did think having more cameras would act as a deterrent.
Merritt Cleaners on Nostrand Avenue 7.2
Ruby of Simple Syrup is mostly concerned with getting his product better known. He has only owned the store for a few months and wants to get the organic wines he sells to gain large customer base. He is going to set up a table at Book Ball on July 17, and he is wondering how to become a sponsor of June Balloon on June 27. Okay Ukah said he would like to buy some wine for Sanctuary Jam on April 16. Ruby enthusiacally agreed. Ruby feels he has a special product that people will like if they become familiar with it.
Zmadi had to leave early and did not get to contribute.
Everyone agreed with Richard when he said that the life of a business owner if one of overcoming obstacle after obstacle. It demands careful thought and lots of energy. Also everyone agreed to meet again in May and try to get more merchants to come.
– John DeWind
