Georgetown – Worried that the stormy transfer of the Georgetown Loop operating contract might give tourists the wrong impression, a group of “desperate merchants” has launched its own PR campaign to remind travelers that the railroad and town will be open for business this summer.
The grassroots Desperate Merchants Association, dependent on the tourist train to attract visitors to Georgetown’s Victorian main street, are paying for ads out of their own pockets and scheduling promotions to coincide with the Memorial Day opening.
“One of the most important aspects of this festival is getting the word out that the train is running,” said Mark Graybill, owner of the End of the Line soda fountain.
Ever since the Colorado Historical Society ended its 30- year relationship with operator Lindsey Ashby last fall and awarded the operation to a new contractor, merchants have worried that the change, and loss of all the line’s steam engines and rolling stock, would harm reservations.
“For months, probably 75 percent of the people that came into my store were saying, ‘Oh, sorry to hear about the train,”‘ Graybill said. “We were worried about the long- term effect that perception is going to have.”
Last summer, the narrow- gauge train carried about 130,000 passengers, generating business for local merchants before and after the short trip to Silver Plume and back.
“It’s pretty vital economically for our entire county,” said Mary Pat Young, owner of the Buckskin Trading Co., where an estimated 25 percent of business comes from train riders.
On the heels of a lackluster Christmas season and the demise of a couple of local businesses, Young began talking with other merchants to see if they could do a better job of promoting the town, and the informal DMA was born.
Members meet every couple of weeks to work on advertising and marketing initiatives, and then go door to door, passing a hat to pay for services.
“We’ve had a tremendous response to it,” Young said. “We just want it to be people who want to throw in some dollars and work toward some advertising and promoting the community.”
An effort to buy a radio ad in Summit County raised more than $2,000 in a couple of weeks; another to buy space on a billboard along Interstate 70 has generated $10,000.
The group has joined with the Clear Creek County Chamber and Tourism Bureau to schedule several events for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend, including rare free tours of the operating Henderson and Edgar mines, live music and a pack-burro race.
The famous corkscrewing train line, now under the operation of New York-based Railstar Corp., also is offering a free child’s ticket with every adult ticket that weekend, marking a newly formed alliance with the town and an acknowledgment that reservations aren’t as strong as hoped.
“It’s a two-way street because they help us and we help them,” said train general manager Pete Gores.
Staff writer Steve Lipsher can be reached at 970-513-9495 or slipsher@denverpost.com.
