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Hungry customers crowd the Downtown Fort Pierce Taco Dive location at
all hours of the day, but especially during the lunch hour.
scared at being next to name-brand stores. It helps bring in
customers. There will always be the craft places that help
keep the downtown flavor, but the name-brands can help
keep Fort Pierce being great.
“From 2014 until now we’ve seen gradual improvements
downtown, and that’s accelerated in the last three years.
What really made a difference to downtown businesses was
the restoration of the city marina after repairing the damage
from the 2004 storms. The marina has really put us out there
to new possibilities and people coming into the city. Visitors
fall in love with downtown; it really is an area that has a lot
to offer.”
BUSINESS OWNERS UNITE
Beryl Muise has owned Notions & Potions on Second
Street for four years. She is an active and enthusiastic member
of the two-year-old Downtown Business Alliance that
seeks to help merchants thrive by working together more
collaboratively.
“We started with five members and now have 40 or 50,”
Muise said. “We all work together to get people to come
downtown. We’re like a family working together. We decorate
our stores, set up selfie stations, work with the city to
organize pressure washing to clean sidewalks.
“We also hold events. One recent one, Shop Small Saturday,
brought in 331 people through my store alone. We got
gift certificates from other merchants, created a competition
for a $1500 shopping spree downtown. Mayor Hudson told
me she’d never seen that many people downtown since she
was young!”
Muise said she realized a couple of years ago that merchants
needed to band together, so she went door to door and
assembled a downtown business directory.
“We printed it up and it was included in the welcome package
they hand out to boaters at the City Marina. Then we
placed it at the courthouse for jurors.
“I do think this is a different time for Fort Pierce,” Muise
said. “People love the vibe, the people. It’s a great community.
The business owners are like a family, and that makes a
huge difference.”
One business in downtown Fort Pierce, Taco Dive, was
so successful when it opened four years ago that it eventu->>
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