By Dustin Brown
With an uncertain economy spelling an uncertain future for borough retailers, leaders of the Queens County Overall Economic Development Corporation are relying on an old-fashioned way to lure customers into local stores.
They are handing out maps.
The Queens World Class Shopping Map is the centerpiece of the QCOEDC’S “Shop Queens, Shop the World” initiative, a campaign being launched Thursday that is designed to attract borough residents to ten of the borough’s major shopping districts.
“In Queens, people from many different races, cultures and ethnic groups work together everyday,” said QCOEDC Executive Director Marie Nahikian. “Promoting the multicultural cooperation that is an everyday business practice in Queens can only mean more business for all of us.”
The maps will be distributed by merchants in the 10 commercial strips, all of which are Business Improvement Districts or neighborhoods with active chambers of commerce.
“The idea is to have those maps available for extended use because they’re quick and easy references to the neighborhoods,” said Michael McGaddye, the director of neighborhood economic development at the QCOEDC. “Hopefully, this will make it easier for people to find their neighborhood shopping districts.”
The initiative is partly designed to counter the economic ripple effect from the events of Sept. 11 and to help stabilize the city’s economy, McGaddye said.
But in a more universal sense, “Shop Queens, Shop the World” is designed to “make shoppers from various neighborhoods aware of the diversity of goods that are available in neighboring districts,” McGaddye said.
Local business leaders applauded the campaign for uniting borough retailers in the pursuit of a common goal.
The QCOEDC “showed real leadership in jumping on this and moving forward with it,” said Bob Richards, president of the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce. “Whatever extra dollars it brings into retail compared to what we would’ve gotten before is a plus. It shows the borough working together.”
The QCOEDC is a private non-profit organization located in Borough Hall whose mission is to provide broader access to economic opportunity for all residents and businesses of Queens County.
The glossy fold-out map lays out the entire borough and its major thoroughfares in bright yellow, with small boxes giving a more detailed view of each individual shopping area.
Subway connections are noted with symbols for each train line, and small captions give a hint of what renders each area unique.
Jackson Heights is dubbed the neighborhood “where Latin American and India meet,” while shoppers along Astoria’s Steinway Street are told to remember “pasta and baklava.” Richmond Hill is “home to recent Guyanese entrepreneurs among the traditional German, Irish and Italian merchants,” and Flushing is considered “the new Asian market place – Chinese, Korean, Afghan, Indian and Thai.”
The map also highlights Sunnyside, Ridgewood, Woodhaven, Forest Hills, Jamaica and Rockaway.
Reach reporter Dustin Brown by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 154.
