By Anna Rice, News Staff
The first Downtown Crossing Holiday Market is in business in a tent on Summer Street, and city officials said they hope it will draw foot traffic and help revitalize what was once one of Boston’s most popular shopping destinations.
The market, sponsored by the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) and the Boston Public Market, opened Nov. 28 and will stay open until Dec. 24. It will be open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from noon to 6 p.m. Sunday. Shoppers will be able to find handmade jewelry, fresh baked goods, clothing, pottery and more from local artists and vendors.
The market is part of Mayor Thomas M. Menino’s Downtown Crossing Economic Improvement Initiative, which launched in 2005. The initiative includes hosting events, supporting and recruiting local businesses, cleaning up the area and giving it a new brand identity, said BRA Assistant Director of Marketing Kristin Phelan.
Phelan said a similar market took place during the summer in Downtown Crossing called Art Fridays that was a ‘huge success,’ and she thinks the holiday market will have similar results.
‘It [the summer market] changed the whole atmosphere of Downtown Crossing,’ Phelan said. ‘This market has done that already and it’s only been open for seven days. We’ve had a lot of positive feedback.’
Many Downtown Crossing business owners said they have seen a drop in customers and revenue since historic Filene’s Basement closed in 2007. The popular store was scheduled to reopen this year, but the project has been delayed due to financial difficulties, Phelan said. Syms Corp. bought Filene’s Basement in June after the store filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and is in the process of finding a downtown location.
Phelan said more than 20 new businesses have opened in Downtown Crossing over the past two years, helping bring the area to life. The Ames Hotel opened on Court Street Nov. 18, and Stoddard’s Fine Food and Ale, a pub-style restaurant owned by Ivy Restaurant Group, is scheduled to open Dec. 10 on Temple Street.
The Boston Ballet’s ‘The Nutcracker’ also returned to the Opera House on Washington Street this year, and renovations to the Paramount Theater on the same street are almost complete. Phelan said she hopes visitors will come to the area to catch a show, have dinner and do some holiday shopping at the market and other area shops.
‘I think it’s turning around,’ Phelan said. ‘This year alone we’ve made a ton of progress.’
Rosemarie Sansone, president of Downtown Crossing Partnership, a group of business owners and residents in the area, said she thinks the holiday market will attract more shoppers to the area and bring long-term positive changes.
‘We have a lot of new things to offer,’ Sansone said.
Sansone and Phelan said they used new media like Twitter, e-mail marketing, word-of-mouth and some advertising to promote the holiday market.
Kristen Silva, a middler nursing major, said she visits Downtown Crossing to shop about once every two months. She said she usually visits DSW, TJ Maxx and H&M, but she might check out the holiday market next time she is in the area.
‘I definitely prefer shopping there over Newbury Street because it’s more reasonably priced and everything is really close and clustered together,’ Silva said.
