Trio of issues might prove boon to Amesbury after spring floods
A big flood, new taxes, and ugly dolls. What could be worse for a downtown?
In Amesbury, the unlikely trio might have unwittingly played a role in reversing the misfortune downtown merchants suffered in the spring, when an overflowing Powow River forced retailers and restaurants to close, due to heavy property damage and mold.
"It was kind of hard getting out of the mire," said Ray Shockey, executive director of the Alliance For Amesbury, a business group. "Some of our businesses really struggled. Others were thanking their lucky stars that nothing happened."
The flood triggered federal disaster aid, which included low-cost loans from the US Small Business Administration, the primary source of funding to help communities recover from a disaster.
Intense media coverage of the floods may have shed new light on Amesbury. "People who came to see what the flood had done were amazed at how much the downtown has improved in the last four or five years," he said, citing a downtown makeover that includes period lighting and facade improvements. "I think a lot of them have come back since."
Liz Frame , owner of Fancy Schmancy on Main Street, has another theory. An uproar over a split tax rate -- which will have businesses pay a higher rate than homeowners -- and the hearings televised on local cable may have drawn much-needed attention to the plight of local merchants.
"I spoke at the meeting and I had my best week," said Frame, who opened her antiques shop about three years ago. "I know for a fact that people in Amesbury are going out of their way, more than ever, to support their local shops."
At the Fiddlesticks toy store on Main Street, owner Joyce Reed credits Uglydolls , a plush pillow popular with preteen boys, for the rush of shoppers to her shop. "They're not a doll-doll," Reed said. "They're a macho-type pillow that really appeals to boys. They're very popular."
The plush creatures -- among them a one-eyed lime-green thing named Ox -- each have their own "personality." "They're really quite popular," said Reed, whose shop escaped damage in the May floods. "They're the type of different toy that we're known for. They've brought a lot of people here."
And what will happen in Amesbury after the bloom is off the holidays? New signs may help keep a steady flow of customers into town. The state Highway Department last week put up green-and-white signs, on routes 150 and 110, that read, "Downtown Amesbury," with a big arrow. A third sign is set to go up soon on the way in from Merrimac, on Route 110.
"We hope it makes it a lot easier for people to find downtown," said Shockey. "They can just follow the arrows."
New shop owners hope that rings true in the new year.
"Unless a special event is going on, I don't seem to get a lot of business," said Robert Chiller, owner of Gallery at the Square , a photography and fine art shop, which opened in October. "But then, again, I'm a new business. It usually takes about a year to really get going. I'm hopeful people will find me."
The council recently gave its approval for the program, which the alliance runs with Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston.
"Family medicine is the only specialty where we are trained to care for multiple generations of family members," said Dr. Randy Ellen Wertheimer, chief of family medicine at Cambridge Health Alliance, a public healthcare network.
Doctors from the program will staff a new $15 million family health center that Cambridge Health is building in downtown Malden, due to open next year.
Earrings made of seaglass and stained glass, a crystal-and-pearl necklace, and sterling silver pins and necklaces are for sale on its website, mybrotherstable.org.
The nonprofit organization's meals program, based in downtown Lynn, serves hundreds of homeless and hungry people each week.
It receives no government money, and relies on donations of money and food from businesses, churches and community organizations.
Kathy McCabe can be reached at kmccabe@globe.com. 
