Page 13 - BusinessWest November 9, 2020

Northampton
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we are dying to go back out to restau- rants, go bar hopping,” she said. “I think these businesses downtown are doing everything they can to hang on.”
Perhaps the economic shakeup
— and some business closures that have followed in its wake — will pres- ent opportunities for some new faces to enter the downtown scene, she added. “A pandemic seems an odd time to start a business, but we’ve seen several open up; we might see a new round of creative, exciting businesses downtown.”
Lindsay Pope made the jump over the summer, purchasing Yoga Sanc- tuary, also at Thornes, from former owner Sara Rose Page on Aug. 1. A former member at the studio, Pope said she decided to become a business owner in this uncertain time because she feared Page may not have found another buyer.
“I feel like this time is incredibly lib- erating,” Pope said. “What do I have to lose? The alternate was that we could have lost this space, and instead, we’re going to give it another shot.”
With the times in mind, she
“Stores that never did local deliveries wondered if people would take advantage of it, but they did. People definitely have been incredibly supportive of downtown — the question is whether that’s enough.”
launched not only reinvigorated stu- dio programming in September, but also new online programming and an online video-library platform. “We’re going to try to evolve to meet the needs of the times and the next genera-
tion. That’s what we’re all being called to do right now in the chaos that’s happening.”
Cahillane said many other business- es have pivoted as well — although she admitted she’s a little sick of that word.
“Restaurants that never did curbside were nervous to try it, but our commu- nity showed up and started ordering curbside. Stores that never did local deliveries wondered if people would take advantage of it, but they did. Peo- ple definitely have been incredibly sup- portive of downtown — the question is whether that’s enough.”
Holding Pattern
Before the pandemic struck, the
DNA — which cites beautification among its top goals, along with pro- gramming and advocacy — was com- ing off a couple of years that saw a series of major projects on the Pleas- ant Street corridor, from a $2.9 million infrastructure upgrade to make the street safer and more navigable for motorists, bicyclists, and pedestrians to the completion of the roundabout at Pleasant and Conz streets and a num- ber of residential and mixed-use devel- opments along the thoroughfare.
To say 2020 has been a different sort
Northampton
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COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT
NOVEMBER 9, 2020 13