Reflections On Main Street

Once you have found someone who does a good job cutting and styling your hair, don't you keep going back? In fact, if they move to a new beauty salon, do you follow them? I do. One of the points constantly being made by advocates of the Metuchen Downtown Alliance is that we don't need another nail salon in the downtown business district. Really? The next time you get your hair cut or nails done, ask the other customers where they are from. I recently did that at Reflections on Main hair studio and Charming Nails, two businesses located on Main Street in Metuchen, New Jersey. I was surprised that there were many clients from Edison, South Plainfield, and other nearby towns. Many worked in or near Metuchen, but did not live in the area. The nail salons, barber shops, and hair salons bring people into town, not because they necessarily want to get their hair cut or nails done in Metuchen, but because they have a relationship with the person who is cutting their hair or doing artwork on their nails and they like the color and styling! They also like the way the owner runs the business. But if you can't find a convenient place to park, or the meters are full or broken, how does that affect their experience? The salon owners can do their best, but they will only set up shop in a town where the parking is convenient, and the streets are clean, plowed and safe. That's where the Borough of Metuchen comes in. The resources to create an environment that is conducive to business is under their control already. We do not need a new $275,000 per year bureaucracy to accomplish this goal. AND we do not need a Metuchen Downtown Alliance with individuals with power and control that do not even understand that nail salons bring people into a downtown! We need to stop the misguided ideas of the proposed Metuchen Downtown Alliance. Small business owners do not need to be taxed to fund for this kind of help. Attend the Monday, May 2, 2016, 7:30 PM PUBLIC HEARING at Metuchen Borough Hall and voice your OPPOSITION to this bureaucracy that obviously does not understand what is needed to have a successful downtown. Show up! Voice what YOU STAND FOR! Nancy E Jessen - I Love Brainy Boro