Small-business owners seek to lure NU students on Web
The Evanston Small Business Association wants Northwestern students to take notice of the city’s shops and restaurants, and it hopes a new Web site to be launched this month will help turn students into consumers.
The site, www.ESBAEvanston.org, will feature forums for ESBA members and others to share information and opinions, said George DeMet, Weinberg ’98 and owner of Palantir.net, which is designing the site. The Web page, which is scheduled to debut March 13, also will include links to businesses that belong to the association.
The site will promote the businesses, but it also will enable visitors to learn more about how small enterprises work and interact with ESBA members, said Dick Peach, the president-elect of the Evanston Chamber of Commerce.
“The general public doesn’t understand who we are and what we are,” Peach said. “The Web site’s an easier way to spread the message.”
Last fall, ESBA launched www.ExploreEvanston.com to promote small businesses and co-sponsored “Wild About Evanston” weekend, which reached out to NU students and offered free food samples from dozens of restaurants.
Small business owners are always trying to lure NU students to Evanston stores instead of Old Orchard shopping center in Skokie, DeMet said.
The new site will have links to small businesses for commerce and information. Tom Fischl, owner of Fischl Sports, 1506 Sherman Ave., said entrepreneurs could learn what other member businesses do, as well as discuss issues related to Evanston.
ESBA is a “grassroots business advocacy group” with about 70 members, said Troy Thiel, the association’s president. Currently, ESBA members communicate primarily by e-mail.
“Our goal and focus of this site is to help Evanston Small Business Association members to network in a more effective manner,” DeMet said. “It’s going to be a great place for small, independent business owners to share our thoughts.”
Fischl said he hoped students would visit the new Web site to better understand the struggles of small businesses, and perhaps support local shops as a result. Students also can leave comments on the Web site to help small businesses learn what appeals to them, he said.
“Students tend to be very conscientious,” Fischl said. “Northwestern is most phenomenal about supporting the community. You may not get that impression from city hall, but definitely from the small business community.”
