It’s good to know that Berlin’s Main Street area has become so highly regarded as a place to do business. It hasn’t been that many years, after all, that town officials had to recruit various enterprises to fill in the blanks in what was then just a vision of how the downtown should look.
When we say “not that many years,” that would be within the last 10 or so that the push to create a vigorous downtown shopping dynamic has taken place. And, now, it has reached a point where shopkeepers are expanding their hours, not just in the hope of catching the additional customer or two, but because the volume of business demands it.
With all the positive stories being reported by both long-time occupants of and new arrivals to the town center, it’s apparent that the town has become its own tourist destination, which doesn’t need a rainy day in Ocean City to draw visitors.
If someone a decade ago had said this kind of prosperity was achievable in such a short time span, most people would have written it off as the product of enthusiastic optimism, but little else.
But, as everyone now knows, Berlin has made itself the envy of most Eastern Shore small towns whose once vibrant downtowns continue to slip away. In the meantime, given all the success that Berlin’s businesses are experiencing, it’s easy to see how this commercial core will continue to grow.
As they say, nothing draws more business like doing business.