Terry and I along with friends Tim and Connie did some traveling in Citrus County on Saturday–from the west to the east.
We started out in Crystal River at Heritage Village for Market Day with Arts and Treasures. I’ve been to many of these market days over the past few years and expected to find sidewalk vendors with produce, crafts and art.
Not so. A few tents. No produce. Just like a regular Saturday on Citrus Avenue.
The only reason I knew that it was Market Day was my musician friend, Paula Bateman, gave me a flyer at our last acoustic meetup. She was performing at the gazebo with a friend of her son.
And it’s a really cute gazebo.
As you can see from the above snap, there weren’t many in attendance. There wasn’t even a place to sit. A couple of benches and a few rocking chairs would have been a welcome addition.
Crystal River has a lot going for it with the influx of tourists coming to see the manatees in the winter, scalloping in the summer, and fishing all year round. So why aren’t these visitors shopping at Heritage Village with all of its little shops, art gallery, and cafes?
Even our local newspaper reported that there was an exodus from Heritage Village to downtown Inverness. An article that was a coup for Inverness but very discouraging for Citrus Avenue.
I can only believe that it’s a marketing issue. While Heritage Village does have an updated website, I see little advertising elsewhere.
This is a really nice area and I love shopping here. I bring our guests here plus I’ve bought many unique gifts over the years (sometimes for myself). Now I’m concerned that more of these stores will be closing down.
We did a little shopping, listened to Paula, and then headed on to our next destination.
Which I’ll tell you about tomorrow.