Valentine’s Day may be over, but that isn’t stopping San Mateo’s 25th Avenue Collective from hosting a love-themed event to boost visibility in a once highly trafficked area.
“It’s not as much of a shopping neighborhood now. Some of the retail stores have moved on, but they still have many worthwhile businesses. It’s mainly services, restaurants and salons,” Pauline Cheung, director of member outreach and engagement at the San Mateo Chamber of Commerce, said. “Downtown has a lot of focus, and we wanted 25th Ave. to have more focus.”
The collective comprises many local businesses along 25th Avenue, west of El Camino Real, and over the past year and half, it’s made a concerted effort to organize more consumer-focused events. The selected vendors capitalize on popular events and holidays, and each one has only gotten more popular, Cheung said.
Over the holidays, the street organized Winter Wonder Walk, which hosted vendors selling gifts for seasonal shoppers. During Halloween, businesses set up displays for trick-or-treaters from car trunks.
Dr. Cassandra Mason runs a chiropractic business on 25th Avenue, and she joined with other nearby stores to formalize the group and bolster activity in the area, even partnering with the city’s Chamber of Commerce to help organize events.
“We are ensuring our brick and mortars see success. Behind every small business there’s a family, and that ripple effect of supporting those small businesses goes beyond those families. It goes into the communities,” Mason said. “One of the biggest things during COVID was everyone became more isolated and we want to have people come out and support small businesses.”
The street has a mix of businesses, from a taqueria to nail salons and a long-standing vinyl record store. With the Spread the Love event on Feb. 22, Mason said they chose vendors that would complement the current businesses while also fitting the Valentine’s Day theme. Vendors will offer charcuterie boards, local honey, handmade jewelry, pet accessories and even self defense products, Mason said.
While online shopping has impacted retailers of all sizes, it’s the smaller, independent shops that tend to see the most impact.
“On 25th we have a lot more service-based businesses. We have nail salons, chiro, restaurants … and so we are trying to bring more awareness that you don’t just need to go downtown,” Mason said.
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