Celebrating the square

How did empty shopping malls lead to bustling main streets?
Well, you might call it one of the “good things” that has come from COVID-19.
In keeping with the local shopping trend, some people are finding out exactly what this town has to offer, starting by walking the streets or, in the case of last week, shopping the “square” of New Hampton. 
“I think we saw a lot more people shopping local because they couldn’t leave town,” said Kerstin Schwickerath of Rapid Printers and Office World. “It was nice to see people come in and say, ‘I didn’t know you had that, now I’ll come in.’ It made them open their eyes to what was here.”
So Shop the Square 2020 is officially in the books … as a huge success.
“So today was the first kind of live ‘event’ we have been able to have and we are very happy with the results. I’ve been talking to most of the business and it seems like there’s been a really big turnout,” said New Horizons-Chamber Director Jason Speltz during the event last week, and he added with a laugh, “the food truck ran out of food.”
The food truck Speltz referring to was Barnyard BBQ’s out of Waucoma, and if their spread-out lines and people entering nearby stores clad in masks, were any indication, this Shop the Square was anything, but normal.
— For more on Shop the Square, see the Aug. 4 Tribune