Staying Alive

And, in the same vein, Sag Harbor Village’s holiday weekend “Keep It Local” shopping event was a success, and it’s a model that should be repeated more frequently in the village — and in every other village and hamlet shopping district on the South Fork.

It was the Sag Harbor Chamber of Commerce that undertook the very simple campaign to encourage people not just to walk the streets of Sag Harbor but to cross the threshold and actually spend some money. Because the village has no issue with foot traffic these days, but its merchants are struggling.

That’s the theme of an Express Sessions event to be held Thursday, April 24, in Sag Harbor: The village has always been aspirational — other shopping areas in the region look at Sag Harbor and covet the village’s mix of retail and restaurants and theaters, its charm, its walkability, its history, its magnetism. Wanting to be the “new Sag Harbor” is a regular rallying cry.

But, if that’s the case, what does it mean when Sag Harbor businesses are struggling? When, despite the happy crowds, a number of businesses have shuttered, taking their wares online exclusively? If this village cannot offer a brick-and-mortar success story, is that a sign that something fundamental has changed?

The conversation will search for insights, and the answer is probably a complicated one, but sometimes the simplest strategy can help: Just remind the folks enjoying a perfect spring weekend that the storefronts they see are not movie sets. They are alive, working businesses that need to be fed just like every other living thing. Do you like having Sag Harbor’s beautiful downtown to go visit? Show your appreciation by spending some money.

And if that message works for Sag Harbor, it can work for Montauk, Westhampton Beach, Southampton Village, Quogue, East Quogue, Bridgehampton, Water Mill, Amagansett … literally every cluster of businesses that’s struggling to stay afloat in a changing world, where people see something they love in a local shop and scan the tag to get it cheaper online. That will save you a few dollars — and cost the community so, so much more.