A Bar Harbor business group that was created 17 years ago to try to help local stores and restaurants keep their doors open year-round is folding up shop.
The Bar Harbor Merchants Association said Friday that it is dissolving.
“As a volunteer organization, we rely on individual efforts to maintain our operation,” the group wrote on its Facebook page. “Unfortunately, we have been unable to dedicate the time and effort required to keep the association viable.”
The merchants association was founded in 2006 by a group of downtown Bar Harbor store owners who wanted to do more to promote their businesses outside the traditional summer tourist season.
While the Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce was and is more focused on promoting the town as a summer tourist destination, some of the stores and restaurants in downtown Bar Harbor that remain open for much of the year wanted to try to draw more customers between late fall and late spring.
One of the first programs launched by the merchants’ association was giving its members seasonal flags to display at their entrances that would let off-season visitors know which businesses were open. A orange flag with a red maple leaf was used in the fall, a blue flag with a white snowflake was used in winter, and a purple flag with a white flower was used in the spring.
“As many of you know, identifying an open business during the [shoulder] season is difficult at best and the town approved uniform flags allowed for an easy visual,” the association said. “Our hopes are that the Chamber of Commerce takes this program over.”
The group also has supported or with the Chamber co-sponsored popular events such as the Early Bird Pajama Sale & Bed Races in November and the Midnight Madness sale in December.
It also has handed out many $25 gift certificates over the years that, if they haven’t been redeemed yet, should be redeemed as soon as possible because the association is closing down its bank accounts, it said.
“We’d like to thank you for supporting your year-round businesses and hope that you continue to do so,” the group said.
