Eat Shop Catch a Flick in Pleasantville

Pleasantville, New York, home of The Village Bookstore, is a thriving community with a number of independent shops, restaurants, and theaters in the town’s commercial area. The Jacob Burns Film Center, a nonprofit educational and cultural center, which opened in 2001, has been a cited as a spur to Pleasantville’s retail growth.

Patrons who become members of the film center receive a number of benefits, including special discounts from its “Reel Partners,” comprised of almost 40 of the area’s local businesses.

“The Burns Center is a big part of the activity in our store,” said Roy Solomon, co-owner with his wife, Yvonne Van Cort, of The Village Bookstore. “It’s a big reason that we have customers from all over the county. And people do come into the store because of [the Reel Partners program].”

The program encourages Burns Center members to patronize local businesses through the mailing of a discount booklet that bears the slogan “EAT, SHOP, CATCH A FLICK” in big block letters on its cover. Local businesses that opt into the Reel Partners program pay a fee, which covers the booklet’s printing costs. Each participating business, in turn, lists its members-only discounts on food or merchandise in the booklet. Reel Partners includes local restaurants, gift shops, bakeries, the bookstore, and more. The program is also promoted via signage in the theater lobby and on its website.

“We really started it as something extra to be able to connect with local businesses,” said Elizabeth Garrigue, membership director at the Jacob Burns Film Center. “So people who come to town to see a movie can stop in the bookstore, [for example] while they’re waiting. It encourages them to shop with other businesses.”

At the same time, the discount program gives businesses a reasonably priced advertising opportunity that reaches a “great, intellectual demographic,” said Garrigue.

“Businesses that participate definitely see the value,” she added. “For $125, their name reaches 6,000 households in the area.”

Solomon is glad to be a part of a community that recognizes the value of shopping locally. The village’s Chamber of Commerce is made of independent businesses, he said, so Pleasantville holds community-related events quite frequently.

“It’s a pretty handy place to have a business,” said Solomon.