Every small town has some empty windows downtown. Some are empty buildings, some are buildings being used for storage, and some are service businesses that just don’t have a lot to put in their windows. Here are three ideas I saw on my trip through Cowlitz County, Washington.

Make a mini-museum.

Work with the local museum to make a temporary display in the windows. This works even for tiny outdoors display cases, which you sometimes see on old jewelry store buildings. The photo at the top is a mini-museum display I saw in Castle Rock, Washington.

Put in a white picket fence

This picket fence was also in Castle Rock. The service business inside didn’t have a lot to put in their windows, so they filled them with this attractive alternative.

Doodle on the windows

An artistic person with some window chalk put these wonderful vines in the window in downtown Kelso, Washington. Much better than just an empty window.

If you’re interested in filling empty buildings, have you thought about dividing them up into shared spaces? 

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Local art can fill up empty windows in small towns, bringing more life and activity to downtown. Photo by by Toni Henry

Many small towns have a challenge of too many empty buildings or too many buildings used only for storage.

In one small town, the problem was an existing store that was using a neighboring building for storage, but had nothing in the windows. In another town, it was a building used for storage by a moving and storage company. They have just plain curtains in the front windows. Lots of buildings are up for rent, so they have nothing in the window except a “for lease” sign. None of these is adding anything positive to the downtown, and they actually make it feel less full.

To bring more life and activity to your downtown, you have to get something interesting in those otherwise empty windows. 

Toni Henry sent this story of filling empty windows in her small town, and it’s one that any small town could copy.

In the small town of East Brady, Pennsylvania, (population 950) there are several vacant store fronts. In October a building owner gave permission for volunteers to clean-up the façade of one of her buildings and to dress up the windows with local artwork. The project cost our East Brady Area Development Corporation (a non-profit made up of volunteers) a total of $100 for a sign, a blind on the door (to hide the interior), several plexiglass frames for identification of artists and their work and small heaters to prevent condensation on the windows.

Since putting out some free PR requesting artists to participate we have showcased at least 20 artist’s works. The displays have changed often and the month of November we dedicated one window to High School art – great collaboration with the local school!. That window was changed out recently to holiday art. We are hoping to get elementary school art for February and the high school wants to participate again in March. The artists have been excited about the opportunity to showcase their work and show up to assist in changing the exhibits. A feel good low cost project!!

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Even buildings used for junk storage can dress up their windows and contribute positively to your downtown. Photo by Becky McCray

Every small town has empty buildings downtown. Whether they are completely empty or just used for storage, they can make your downtown look vacant. If the building has windows, though, there’s an opportunity to dress them up a bit and maybe even promote another business at the same time.

In the picture above, a building used for storage is also being used to advertise another business that’s located across town. Here’s a previous display in the same windows:

Rather than leave the windows bare, the owner rented just the window display space to a retail store. Photo by Becky McCray

In Elkhart, Kansas, I saw two more good examples. For one, they made a custom banner to hang in the window and make it look like boxes in a display window:

The illusion of looking and seeing boxes stacked gives this ad more attention-getting power. Photo by Becky McCray

That’s definitely better than just empty windows or another vacant building.

In another set of windows, a local business used promotional items they already had on hand:

This satellite business used existing advertising materials (signs, stand-ups and banners) to fill the windows of this empty building. Photo by Becky McCray.

At first, I didn’t realize the building was vacant because the windows looked so lively.

In Hollis, Oklahoma, Betty Motley told me how a local group printed special banners to hang in windows. They found images online to use. This one is an empty building with an old-fashioned barber shop theme.

It’s all an illusion. There is no barbershop, no barber pole. That’s all on banners hung inside the windows.  Photo via Betty Motley

They even painted the door with barbershop lettering to complete the illusion. They also did another building using an antiques store as the theme.

Stacey Colledge from Central City, Iowa, sent me the photos below. They used historic photos of actual old-time businesses in their town, and printed them on static cling material so they can be moved when a building gets rented. A total of 9 has cost them about $2,000, she said.

Volunteers proudly pose with one of their historic photo window clings. Photo via Stacey Colledge

Not only did they put the window clings up, they put out a welcome mat, too! Photo via Stacey Colledge

Look into the future

So far, we’ve seen windows that featured businesses from the past and present, but what about businesses from the future? You know your town has a past, but do you spend enough time reminding people that your town has a future?

Here’s one town that did. Longview, Texas, used a window decal to show a vision of the building occupied by a future business.

This building would make a great boutique hardware store! Photo via Kevin Green, News-Journal Photo.

Read more about this one at the Longview News-Journal.

Window displays don’t have to be all business. They could be creative, too. Renton, Washington, did a series of window displays featuring a fairy tale theme.

Art is a smart way to dress up windows of empty buildings. Photo via Tory Franklin

Read more about it at the Renton Reporter.

Filling Your Empty Buildings

You don’t have to stop with decorating the windows. You can actually fill empty buildings with business, no matter how small your town is. Join Deb Brown and me for a 2-part webinar on Filling Empty Buildings at SaveYour.Town. The deadline to register is June 19, 2018.

Look at these examples that Vienna Lee showed me in Elkhart, Kansas. Both buildings are empty, with only the front windows used to advertise other businesses.

This banner gives the illusion of looking into the front display space and seeing boxes stacked there.

This satellite business used existing advertising materials (signs, stand-ups and banners) to fill the windows of this empty building.

The hardest part may be talking the empty building owner into agreeing. It may help to point out that everyone benefits: you get the advertising, the building owner gets a little revenue until they can find a new tenant, and the downtown gets something better to look at than an empty shop.

Also check out this example of renting just the front windows for advertising in Alva, Oklahoma.

Would you rather fill those empty buildings with new businesses? Deb Brown and I have put together a Toolkit to show you how she filled empty buildings by running a tour. You can get the details at the Tour of Empty Buildings Toolkit.

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