'Shop Rye' Event Hopes to Boost Local Retailers

“Keep it local. Keep it here. Shop in Rye.”

Rye Mayor Doug French is doing the talking. And what he is talking about is the Rye Chamber of Commerce’s latest campaign to “Think Local and Shop Rye”  this Saturday, March 5, a bargain-filled day to remember for merchants as well as customers.
The Rye C of C is sponsoring  “$50 on the 5th” – an event encouraging residents to support local business. Many retailers will offer special sales and savings, according to the announcement.

Those sales and savings are necessary because local merchants are hurting from the economic downturn having an impact up and down Purchase Street.

Victoria Secret has just closed, its walls stripped bare, creating yet another vacancy on the shopping strip. La Coquette– the boutique jewelry store just up the street– is closing, its window plastered with an “Everything Must Go” sign touting discounts of up to 70 percent.

Rhythm on Rye, the consignment shop down the street, is two months behind on the rent and on the brink of folding, according to its owner Renee Drummond. Recently its windows were emblazoned with  signs that, in effect, said: “We don’t want to close, but we need your help.”

“I am in danger of going out of business. I’m not afraid to speak about how bad the economic downturn has been for local business," said Drummond. 

"But the Rye people have been wonderful. When I put my sign up calling attention to my business plight, people began to really come in. Rye is  that kind of place. I grew up here. And I hope I can afford to stay in business here.”

And that sprawling space that used to be Sam Goody’s record store has been mainly vacant for going on three years now, despite the owners' attempts to subdivide the space.

Upbeat CofC president Lisa Summa-Guarino, assistant vice president and branch manager of Capital One Bank at 57 Purchase St., has only to step outside her office to see the empty stores– those about to close and those barely hanging on by simply gazing to the left, right and directly across the street.

That’s one of the reasons she is one of the forces behind the “Think Local and Shop Rye” drive. 

“As we look around and see all that is wonderful about Rye we have to take a moment and understand how we all contribute to that Rye wonderful-ness being maintained," says Summa-Guarino.

"Start small by thinking to yourselves where do I shop and why?  Could I give that boutique in town a try, instead of driving out of my very own town to shop, even to the point of sometimes going out of state to shop?  If each and everyone found a way to frequent a local merchant or service, it can make a positive difference.  This action could continue to support Rye growing strong and being a local thriving community.” 

“Our downtown is the envy of surrounding communities and one of the great attractions we have here in Rye that gives us our charm and defines who we are, “ Mayor French said.

“A vibrant downtown is infectious and is fundamental to the local economy and the overall community in terms of property values and quality of life," said the mayor.

"It's important that residents continue to support their downtown and that the City continues to foster a merchant-friendly environment."