Vicksburg’s revitalized downtown drives growth, community spirit, and local spending — with incentives

Editor’s Note: This story is part of Momentum: The people and companies shaping what’s next, a weekly series that explores new ventures, founder support, and the resources powering entrepreneurship and small businesses across seven counties in Southwest Michigan. This project is sponsored by Southwest Michigan First.

The village of Vicksburg, 14 miles southeast of Kalamazoo, has an extraordinary downtown — clean and colorful with a wide variety of businesses and inviting touches like benches, tables, and chairs on the sidewalks where you can eat and drink or just people-watch.

It’s a historic downtown with a few buildings almost 150 years old, all part of the Vicksburg Historic District, which is on the National Register of Historic Places.  The district includes 176 commercial, residential, and community-related properties with the boundaries aligning with the oldest known maps of Vicksburg.

The sprucing up of Vicksburg has occurred gradually over the past decade. Michigan’s Stormwater, Asset Management, and Wastewater program was used to fund an $11 million overhaul of the 80-year-old sewer and stormwater systems.  Improvements also were made to the water system, and all work was coordinated with street reconstruction.

Vicksburg modernized its downtown Main Street with wider sidewalks, updated parking, and a centrally located plaza. Streetlights, benches, and bike racks were added, and a matching-grant program helped business owners make the front of buildings more attractive. Downtown’s Oswalt Park got new seating, a fireplace, and attractive landscaping.

A parking lot is being built behind businesses on South Main Street; it will be the largest municipal lot.  The village received a $632,000 grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation to pay half the cost.

So what next?

Despite creating an excellent downtown, Vicksburg shares the woes of the national shopping situation — local dollars going to online businesses and/or big-box stores in nearby towns.  So village officials have partnered with a specialty business to create the Village of Vicksburg Community Card, a gift card that can be used only at participating local businesses.  Cards are available in any amount from $50 to $300 and never expire.

The program started last fall, and currently it offers an immediate 25 percent return on your money: buy a $50 card and get a $12.50 bonus card; buy a $100 card and get a $25 bonus card; pay $200 and get a $50 bonus. You can buy cards for gifts or for yourself.

Vicksburg’s partner is Yiftee, a 14-year-old business based in California that claims it “always has been about bringing profitable business to local shops and restaurants.”  Yiftee works with MasterCard.

Twenty-seven businesses are signed up so far, and more keep getting added.  The breakdown of participants is retail, 9 businesses; food and dining, 7; nightlife, 4; health and fitness, 3; beauty and wellness, 2; and services, 2.  

“The participating-business mix is a portrait of a working downtown — retail, food and dining, health and fitness, beauty and wellness, and services all on one digital card,” says Valentina Chimienti, a Yiftee customer-success manager.

A participant in the program from the start is Kimm Mayer, owner of Gilbert and Ivy bookstore, 100 S. Main St.  “I think it’s a great opportunity for people to get a gift card and then you can use them anywhere they’re accepted. So if you’re walking around town, you can go out for dinner, you can go buy something for the house, you can buy some books, and you can just use your one card, which keeps local money local.”

Regarding the current bonus-card incentive, Mayer says, “It is a great deal, and the village and all the merchants are trying to get the word out about it because it is a great opportunity.”

From 1905 to 2001, the Lee Paper Co. mill was Vicksburg’s largest employer, with a peak workforce of 200 to 250 people. During its final four decades, the mill changed ownership twice before closing in 2001. Despite the loss of its largest employer, Vicksburg has remained largely unaffected.

In 2001, the village’s population was around 2,300, and now it’s about 4,000. Credit for the growth goes to the revitalization efforts, construction of new homes, remote work, and the desire of many people to experience small-town living.

Vicksburg uses its downtown to attract visitors. During summer, every Wednesday evening is part of BURG Days of Summer, which feature musical entertainment, food, family activities, and more. Thousands of people attend the events, and village officials say there are more visitors than residents in the crowds.

A good example of Vicksburg’s spirit is the first Pulp & Press Lit Arts Festival last April 24-25, when you couldn’t walk around town without bumping into an author.  It will become an annual event.  The first one kicked off with a talk by Shelby Van Pelt, author of the best-selling novel, “Remarkably Bright Creatures,” which is also a popular Netflix movie.

Of course, Gilbert and Ivy bookstore owner Mayer was one of several sponsors of the festival.  “My goal is to build community through books and stories,” she says.  “The best way to do that is to have activities where you pull people together.”