We were in Worcester a couple weeks ago, and decided that we would try to have dinner before heading home. We decided to try a restaurant we had been to before, so we found a parking spot, put a dollar or so in the meter, and walked down the block to the restaurant. At first I thought I was on the wrong street, but no, the place was closed. Closed closed. Tried another place in the neighborhood, but didn't want to wait an hour for a table. I did, however, notice an interesting business across the street from the restaurant, and made a mental note to check it out on the internet when I got home.
First, to resolve the mystery of what happened to our restaurant.
- The web site was still up, and had no indication of closure.
- Yelp, as well, had no notice that they had closed.
- I did find their Facebook page, that indicated they were temporarily closed for retooling of their concept. This appeared to be not proactive, but simply in response to some "What happened" posts.
- They do have new web site/facebook pages, but no links from old to new.
If not for my investigative curiousity, I would have simply assumed they were out of business.
The new (to me) business is the Crompton Collective, a business of multiple vendors/craftspeople housed in an old mill building in Worcester's Canal District. Just a look at their
Facebook page (with links to the individual Facebook pages of members), and see how consistently they are out in front of their audience. They are very adept at social media marketing, and in addition to crafts classes, offer a seminar on social media marketing for small businesses!
Now the reason I contrast these two is that it is not the stereotype "old fogies versus the digital generation". Both of these businesses have a vibe that definitely skews to a younger demographic - they just don't have the same level of skill with social media.
(Or perhaps I am just crabby about relinquishing my title of "Clark University's Oldest Living Student".)
