Here's the REAL story of Egleston's businesses!

For 16 years, Egleston Square Main Street (ESMS) has worked with local merchants, residents and community partners to support and create a thriving, diverse business district. Thanks to the hard work and dedication of over 80 local businesses; unique family-friendly events; holiday celebrations and design competitions; neighborhood clean-up days and more, Egleston Square is an increasingly attractive neighborhood in which to live, work and shop.

Egleston Square Main Street is committed to assisting the City of Boston’s Inspectional Services Department (ISD) in its efforts to improve their customer service, streamline permitting and licensing processes, and provide increasingly accurate information to local business owners. ESMS has been working with local merchants to provide trainings on a variety of topics, including City regulations, so that all businesses can comply with the regulations necessary to run a successful business.

Given our central role as a liaison between the City of Boston and local merchants, we find it unfortunate that on October 3, 2012, the City’s response team chose to highlight the citation and closure of two businesses for non-compliance without releasing a statement providing the full context: that these two businesses are the exception to a community of successes. From personal experiences and professional interactions, we know that those two businesses in no way represent the other 80+ businesses in the district which meet and exceed the City’s regulations. In light of their actions, we invite the City to share its data on the successes in Egleston Square with the media, just as they leaked news of the impending citations and closures. Their actions cast a pall over the district, discouraged shoppers from patronizing merchants for the rest of the day, and contributed to a negative perception disproportionate to Egleston Square’s true state.

On the contrary, Egleston Square is welcoming and open for business! On behalf of the merchants in the district, we invite the public to see for itself. Come shop Egleston and meet our small businesses owners. We also look forward to working with the City of Boston on supporting the upstanding businesses in the district, as we continue to grow Egleston Square as a social and economic driver at one of Boston’s great neighborhood crossroads.

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