Why You Should Locate Your
Business in Downtown Honesdale

Market Growth

The Honesdale market includes over 27,000 persons living within 10 miles of Main Street and over 11,000 within 5 miles. It is also a growing market, having gained over 26% since 1980. The area within 5-10 miles of Downtown Honesdale has grown by 20% since the 1990 Census.

Second Home Market

There are over 13,000 second homes within 15 miles of Downtown Honesdale, including over 4,000 within 10 miles of Main Street. The visitation to these second homes adds over 46,000 persons to the market during the vacation season. These households, primarily from New York and New Jersey, spend at up to twice the rate of local residents on food away from home, entertainment and other discretionary goods and services.

Traffic and Visibility

Traffic along Main Street ranges from 9,000 to 18,000 vehicles per day and has grown by over 13% since 1990. The highest traffic location in all of Wayne County is, in fact, found in Downtown Honesdale. It is the intersection of Main and Fourth Street. No other spot in Wayne or Pike Counties enjoys this level of visibility.

Business Variety

Downtown Honesdale includes over 150 storefronts and 200 individual businesses. There are 10 restaurants, 9 retailers of food, clothing and furniture and 38 specialty retail shops. There are also over 50 professional offices, 24 service businesses, 10 personal service shops, 9 churches, numerous public offices and buildings, 2 lodging places and more than 50 other businesses found in Downtown Honesdale, ranging from meats to music and skis to shotguns.

Reasonable Rents

Rents for downtown businesses are very competitive. A Main Street storefront can be rented for $5-7 per square foot and quality office space can be secured for $4-6 per square foot. This is an extraordinary bargain compared to the $10-12 per square foot typical of regional mall locations.

Parking Availability

Downtown Honesdale offers over 1,000 public parking spaces. This includes some 75 off-street spaces found in the centrally located Park 'N Shop. There are also over 80 spaces of publicly-provided employee parking accessible from most downtown locations at rates of as little as $180 per year per space.

Strategic Location

The main east-west and north-south arteries through Wayne County converge on Main Street. Downtown Honesdale also, as County Seat, provides for the needs of more than 350 County employees. It is the site of the Wayne Memorial Health System, with over 550 employees. County government and health services alone generate a minimum of 2,000 visitor trips for Downtown Honesdale every business day.

Business Organization

The 70+ member "Honesdale Business Association" sponsors a succession of popular events attracting thousands of visitors to downtown. These include the "Winter Carnival," "Street Fair and Sale," "Heritage and Arts Festival" and "Home for the Holidays" promotions. The Chamber of Commerce has also established a Farmers Market at its Visitors Center to complement train excursions it has offered since 1979. Over 10,000 visitors per year come to downtown by train.

Streetscape

Downtown Honesdale has undergone almost continuous revitalization since the 1960's. It underwent a major overhaul in the mid-1990's in conjunction with Main Street reconstruction. New sidewalks were installed with brick borders and handicapped ramping. New trees have been planted regularly to maintain Honesdale's image as "the Maple City." Several facade restorations, expansions and other store improvements were also financed. The result is a streetscape of great appeal to visitors. It has been admired in articles in the Philadelphia Inquirer, The New York Times, and the The Middletown Times-Herald Record.

Workforce

Honesdale and Wayne County as a whole, are the source of a quality labor force available at reasonable wage rates. Northeastern Pennsylvania wage rates for clerks run 2% to 10% below the U.S. average as compared to rates of 5% to 20% above average for the New York metropolitan area.

Banking Community

Honesdale is home to 5 major financial institutions. Collectively, they represent deposits of $378,936,000 and account for 48% of all deposits in Wayne County financial institutions. There is, in fact, more money deposited in Downtown Honesdale than all of Pike County. Wayne County deposits per capita exceed every surrounding county by more than $2,500.

Volunteerism

Downtown Honesdale gets it done with volunteer efforts and minimal governmental help. This self-reliant attitude has produced the following downtown development projects: 1) the Park N' Shop Lot, 2) the Torrey Building and Stourbridge Lion Exhibition Buildings, 3) the Honesdale Pool, 4) the Fred Miller Pavilion, 5) the Wayne Memorial Hospital's Propst Pavilion addition and 6) the Wayne County Visitors Center. The last of these is now a prominent downtown feature. Some $225,000 of contributed funds made it a reality. Altogether, several millions of dollars have been raised for these projects.

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