Nov 30, 2013 4 min read

John Mollenauer doesn’t mince words talking about how the “fantastic days” of retail shops that lined Charleroi’s main business district a quarter century ago are a thing of the past.

But the man who will become Charleroi’s next mayor also thinks the new small business owners coming into town are providing a much-needed spark with their boutiques, restaurants and stores that dot McKean and Fallowfield avenues in the heart of the borough’s business district.

“They’re not coming back,” Mollenauer said of those better economic days that evaporated 25 years ago. “But we’re seeing a resurgence. We can’t sit here and be passive. Instead of being reactive, we have to be proactive.”

And that’s exactly what borough officials have done by coordinating with nearly 20 store owners to promote Small Business Saturday in Charleroi immediately after the big-box giants held competing sales to entice consumers. Rather than competing against each other for customers, however, the Charleroi businesses owners put on a unified front and spent time promoting one another.

Rachel Connelly, a sales manager of Zelenski’s Bridal & Prom Shoppe, thinks those relationships have been key to attracting customers from beyond the Mon Valley.

“It’s revitalized Charleroi, for sure,” Connelly said. “As being one of the oldest, if not the oldest, remaining shops in town, working together has really revitalized us. And it’s bringing people in from all over.”

Daneen Troup, owner of Prima Diva Boutique, had fun talking up all of the stores involved in Small Business Saturday during Charleroi’s Light Up Night Friday.

“It makes a huge difference,” Troup said about the business partnerships. “Everyone talks to their own customers and promoted each other. It’s more about the community and the relationships. It’s fun to shop local. You run into all of your friends.”

That helps newcomers like Karen Wagner after she opened her Wagner’s Bits & Pieces shop Wednesday. The response she received Saturday overwhelmed her and she credited the new partnerships to her quick success.

“Today has been crazy great, Wagner said. “We work well together. You have to in a community.”

Small Business Saturday is a relatively new national event promoted by American Express to get consumers to shop locally at family-owned stores.

Most of the Charleroi businesses saw an uptick in customers Saturday, although the impact of the “Shop Small” event wasn’t immediately known. However, it was a hit with customers who found great deals, sipped wine while shopping or enjoyed the more relaxed pace compared to the malls immediately after Thanksgiving.

Charleroi resident Marian Dumm said she avoids the mainstream shopping malls and usually is able to find unique gifts for friends and family at the locally owned stores.

“I think it’s awesome,” Dumm said while eyeing a personalized coffee mug at Prima Diva Boutique. “Anything to pump up the small businesses. I don’t do Black Friday, Black Thursday, Black Tuesday or whatever. I’d rather shop here.”

Charleroi Manager Donn Henderson thinks that hunger for something different is a “vibrant reminder” how small businesses in town can still serve an important role for shoppers. He acknowledged that the business district’s popularity has dwindled over the past few decades, but the layout still provides easy access to customers and has room to grow.

Organizing year-round events to promote the shop owners is key to thriving business districts in Charleroi and other small towns with prototypical Main Street layouts, Henderson said.

“It reminds people you can go into a small town like Charleroi to find what you need,” Henderson said. “You get something different and unique and fun. We have to find our niche and grow it. I think we’re doing that a little bit.”