Online survey asks public about downtown shopping and dining

Tiffin Seneca Economic Partnership (TSEP) announced today the first new public survey about shopping and dining preferences in downtown Tiffin and the surrounding area since the study contained in the Housing Opportunities Analysis in 2019. Any resident, visitor, employee and student can fill out the survey, which is available at www.tiffinsurvey.com and will be open until July 15, 2021. Participants will be entered into a gift card drawing.

Information from the confidential, short survey will be used to help the Downtown Business Enhancement Committee (DBEC) and TSEP Staff strategically target new businesses to attract to the downtown. The goal will be to do the survey annually or biannually to continually have current, accurate information on the public’s shopping habits and preferences for Downtown Tiffin.

In 2019, the Housing Opportunity Analysis listed a bakery, an indoor farmer’s market, family recreation, a clothing store, and a grocery as the top five businesses. It also listed steakhouse, American traditional, steak & seafood, BBQ, and Breakfast/Brunch as the top five menu types sought for downtown. The new data will provide a way to compare trends over time.

Tiffin Mayor Aaron Montz praised the effort, saying, “Efforts like this are one of the hundreds of things we do to continue our downtown momentum and the number of new businesses starting up and thriving in our center city. I encourage everyone to fill it out.”

Bill Jones, Downtown Business Enhancement Committee Chair, commented “Our intention is to encourage local entrepreneurs and to target the most highly sought business types within a 60-mile radius and ask if they would like to open a new branch.”

Questions should be directed to Amy Reinhart, the Director of Downtown Revitalization, at 419.767.0328 or by email at reinhart@tiffinseneca.org.