Neighbors Working to Build a Business Association for Brookline Village

After decades in the shadows of nearby Coolidge Corner, Justin Berke believes its about time Brookline Village, the town's historic center and the seat of government, gets some recognition too.

"Coolidge Corner is always going to be big commercial area in Brookline," the financial planner and Brookline Village resident said. "We're not going to change that, but we can make them more aware that it's not the only one."

So back in February, Berke started talking with business owners around his neighborhood about getting together to plan coordinated events and buy group advertising to promote the area as a whole.

What the village needs, he told them, is a merchants association.

"Everybody liked the idea, I think," Berke said. "Everybody just wants to see what we have in mind for it."

In the months since, Berke has launched a website, commissioned the nearby New England Art Institute to develop a logo, and partnered with Lisa Trachtman, owner of Abeille craft and gift shop. And late next month, he'll hold the first meeting of the Brookline Village Merchants Association.

They're not really sure where it will go from there, but Berke and Trachtman said they'd like to hold the village's first neighborhood-wide merchant event in years by September. The goal, they said, is to remind people that Coolidge Corner isn't the only show in town.

"It's a short walk, and people sometimes feel like it's a different world," Trachtman said.

It's not the first time merchants in one of Brookline's smaller business districts have banded together to wrestle away some of the attention lavished on the much larger Coolidge Corner.

For years, the Washington Square Merchants, led by a jewelry shop owner named Barbara Soifer, urged town officials to make improvements in the square, organized an annual music festival, and encouraged area restaurants to provide more outdoor seating. Even the annual First Light Festival, now a town-wide event the heralds the arrival of the winter shopping season, began as an event for Washington Square merchants.

But the association was put on hold when Soifer passed away a year ago and remained inactive ever since. Hsiu-Lan Chang, owner of FastFrame in Washington Square, said neighbors are now working together to launch a new organization, tentatively called the Washington Square Business Association.

The Coolidge Corner Merchants Association, on the other hand, has around 80 due-paying members and continues to host new events, including this year's addition of monthly "Summer Strolls." In addition to hosting events that would be too expensive for any one business to pull off, President Harvey Bravman said the association creates a venues for residents and town officials to come to the business community with concerns or issues.

Trachtman expects the village's new association would be able to channel business owners' concerns to Town Hall and advocate on behalf of the neighborhood as well. As an example, she points to the recent discussion over the potential elimination of bus stops in Brookline Village.

She said she believes town also spends a disproportionate share of its resources supporting Coolidge Corner over the other business districts, though she doesn't fault town officials.

"I don't think we were asking," she said. "It's just a matter of asking."

The Brookline Village Merchants Association will hold its first meeting at 9 a.m. on July 29 in the community room of the Public Safety Building, 350 Washington St.