Coldwater DDA cites 186,000 annual unique visitors, launches downtown website and previews summer events
May 22, 2024 | Coldwater, Branch County, Michigan
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The Coldwater Downtown Development Authority on May 22 highlighted new visitor data and promotion tools the organization plans to use to help downtown businesses better capture event-driven spending.
Audrey, the DDA director, said the DDA worked with Michigan Main Street and National Main Street to pilot a visitor‑profile and data‑analysis template built on Placer AI data. “We have close to a 186,000 individual visitors to the downtown each year,” Audrey said, adding that those visitors make roughly 1,300,000 visits to the district in a year. She explained that the DDA counts a “visit” as someone who spends at least seven minutes within the main‑street boundary and is counted only once per day.
The director described heat maps showing concentrated visitor origins in regional centers (Fort Wayne, South Bend, Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids and the Detroit area), peak single‑day draws such as Strawberry Fest and Applefest, and quieter holidays such as July 4, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Audrey said Strawberry Fest drew about 10,500 attendees last year and estimated the district missed roughly 1,700 dining opportunities that could have been captured by downtown businesses.
The DDA also announced its new downtown website is live, which Audrey said will enable easier event promotion and, over time, provide metrics to inform business outreach. Christine, reporting for Tibbetts, said the theatre season will open in two weeks with a lineup intended to attract a broad audience and that Chad Talon will serve as interim artistic director for the summer following the previous director’s departure.
The DDA plans to convert the data into business‑friendly graphics, share tools with downtown merchants and use survey and corridor planning to guide marketing, signage and event scheduling decisions.
The board heard the updates during its regular meeting and then voted to approve the fiscal year 2025 budget; no public comments were offered before adjournment. The DDA’s next meeting is June 26, 2024.
Audrey, the DDA director, said the DDA worked with Michigan Main Street and National Main Street to pilot a visitor‑profile and data‑analysis template built on Placer AI data. “We have close to a 186,000 individual visitors to the downtown each year,” Audrey said, adding that those visitors make roughly 1,300,000 visits to the district in a year. She explained that the DDA counts a “visit” as someone who spends at least seven minutes within the main‑street boundary and is counted only once per day.
The director described heat maps showing concentrated visitor origins in regional centers (Fort Wayne, South Bend, Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids and the Detroit area), peak single‑day draws such as Strawberry Fest and Applefest, and quieter holidays such as July 4, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Audrey said Strawberry Fest drew about 10,500 attendees last year and estimated the district missed roughly 1,700 dining opportunities that could have been captured by downtown businesses.
The DDA also announced its new downtown website is live, which Audrey said will enable easier event promotion and, over time, provide metrics to inform business outreach. Christine, reporting for Tibbetts, said the theatre season will open in two weeks with a lineup intended to attract a broad audience and that Chad Talon will serve as interim artistic director for the summer following the previous director’s departure.
The DDA plans to convert the data into business‑friendly graphics, share tools with downtown merchants and use survey and corridor planning to guide marketing, signage and event scheduling decisions.
The board heard the updates during its regular meeting and then voted to approve the fiscal year 2025 budget; no public comments were offered before adjournment. The DDA’s next meeting is June 26, 2024.
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