Asbury Park wants you to Shop Here Now with discounts, special events during Sea Hear Now
ASBURY PARK - If you are in the city for the Sea Hear Now music festival, local businesses hope you'll explore over 30 shops participating in the Shop Here Now initiative from Sept. 14-15.
"Each of the businesses that are participating will have a flyer in their window. It looks like a Sea Hear Now flyer but it actually says Shop Here Now and every participating business will have that flyer up in their window letting the attendees know there is stuff going on," said Bianca Freda, chair of the Asbury Park Business Committee and the owner of Interwoven, an apparel shop on Cookman Avenue.
Customers can present their Sea Hear Now wristbands at the participating businesses for giveaways, promotions, discounts and/or events.
"Some businesses are offering exclusive merchandise. Some of them are offering a discount, (or) a gift with purchase," Freda said. "Some businesses are even having live musical events. … Interwoven is doing a charm bar, a make your own necklace event. We are also having a live performer." Freda said.
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She added "we want them to walk around and get a taste of what we get a taste of on a daily basis."
"I just think there is going to be so much energy in town and we really want to encourage all the attendees to walk around the town and be able to see why we love Asbury Park beyond the festival," Freda said.
The business committee consists of 11 members, including Deputy Mayor Amy Quinn, but involves about 15 to 20 businesses as the meetings are open to the public.
"One of the things we had been discussing is the influx of traffic that comes into the city for Sea Hear Now and how we could communicate to those attendees that there are so many more amazing things going on beyond the festival throughout Asbury Park. Not just downtown, throughout the entire town," Freda said.
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Shop Here Now started three years ago and continues to grow.
"The Shop Here Now initiative was to get those festival goers to go outside the constraints of the festival to see all the amazing restaurants we have, the retail, the community in general. This year we had the Sea Hear Now committee members reach out to us and wanted to work with us to help us promote this initiative," Freda said.
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The business committee wants to be a diverse group of businesses.
"We don't want it to be all restaurateurs or retail owners. We really try to get business owners from the West Side and East Side, not just downtown, not just the boardwalk. We are actively recruiting businesses that are outside of what we already have, that is one of our focuses as well," Freda said.
The businesses participating this year currently include;
A Year and a Day Mystical Shoppe, 413 Bond St.
Amici Gelato & Cafe, 630 Mattison Ave.
Art629, 631 Cookman Ave.
Asbury Park Cyclery, 1201 Main St.
Blackbird Presents, 651 Cookman Ave.
Boho House, 623 Cookman Ave.
Boho Yoga, 1321 Memorial Drive
Cameo Love Market, 1213 Main St.
Confections of a Rock$tar, 550 Cookman Ave.
Destination Asbury, 644 Cookman Ave.
Flavia’s Cucina Romana, 550 Cookman Ave.
Frank’s Market Refillery, 658 Cookman Ave.
Interwoven, 722 Cookman Ave.
Jesenia M. Juarez- Multi Express Tax Services, 416 Main St.
Kased Clothing, 645 Cookman Ave.
Kur Wellness Studios, 412 Bond St.
Larry Cadillac, 725 Cookman Ave.
Locals ArtSpace, 408 Main St.
New Hour Clothing, 527 Bangs Ave., Suite 103
Oasis Homec, 627 Cookman Ave.
Old Glory Tattoo, 504 Main St.
Pasta Volo, 419 Bond St.
Paws Barkery and Boutique, 658 Cookman Ave. (Shoppes at the Arcade) and 1300 Ocean Ave. (Convention Hall)
Philly Pretzel Factory,1200 Ocean Ave. Suite M1
Pipe Dreams, 1311 Memorial Drive
Pure Shots Studio, 658 Cookman Ave., Suite 11
Ralph's Italian Ice, 1000 Ocean Ave.
Rebel Supply, 550 Cookman Ave.
Stella Marina, 800 Ocean Ave.
Talking Heads Barbershop, 700 Mattison Ave.
The Baked Bear, 614 Cookman Ave.
The St. Laurent, 408 Seventh Ave.
Charles Daye is the metro reporter for Asbury Park and Neptune, with a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion. @CharlesDayeAPP Contact him: [email protected]
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Asbury Park Sea Hear Now: Businesses offer discounts for Shop Here Now
