What’s the best way to bring in people to the many small businesses in downtown Lowell?
Why, murder, of course.
That’s what two business owners are hoping as they plan an upcoming “town-wide whodunit” murder mystery game in Lowell.
Michelle Halvorsen, owner of Disco Darling, and Tori Runstrom, owner of WearForward, created the game that will be played June 12 from 2-7 pm throughout 18 participating businesses in downtown Lowell.
Mystery in Lowell: A Town-Wide Whodunit is a Clue-style murder mystery that is being created and organized as a fun, family-friendly way to draw people downtown to visit local businesses.
Halvorsen and Runstrom, both Lowell residents, came up with the idea while discussing things they could do as business owners to generate more traffic. After their successful event in early May – “Moms & Margs” – which focused on women, they decided to create this event to draw more families.
The game is free to play and revolves around a story that Runstrom created. The mystery involves the untimely, suspicious death of a man with a secret about Lowell. Participants first visit either Disco Darling or WearForward to get a playing sheet and map of participating businesses. Clues can be found at each location, and though purchases are not necessary to win, an extra clue is given to those who do make a purchase.
After receiving clues on who committed the murder, where it happened, and with what weapon, participants will go to the Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce office on the Riverwalk to give their answers. If correct, they will receive a prize: a button that says, “I Solved a Murder in Lowell.”
Runstrom says she estimates the game will take about two hours to complete but adds that it is difficult to anticipate how much time people will spend at each business. She says most people will be able to complete the game, and you won’t need to stop at every business in order to solve the mystery.
“It will be challenging enough that it will be fun to do, and you will need to go to more than two or three stops,” Runstrom explains. “But it will be easy enough that most people will solve it.”
The Englehardt Library and the nearby Farmers’ Market are also participating in the game.
All participating businesses will stay open until at least 7 pm. Those who haven’t yet solved the mystery by then can go to the Chamber office and make their best guess.
More than 1,400 people have responded as “interested” on the event Facebook page, and Runstrom and Halvorsen are preparing for a large turnout. They are hoping to keep all the participating businesses on the same page as to how to run the game, and so long as that happens, they will consider the event a success.
“The big thing is to just get people out here doing something fun,” Runstrom says.
The pair would like to schedule more events in order to draw more people downtown but say it is eye-opening how much planning is necessary. They welcome more help and support from other businesses and are trying to plan around already-scheduled annual events in Lowell such as the Riverwalk Festival.
Both ladies agree that there has been more “movement” downtown lately, but it takes a push to help businesses grow. They think planning events to incentivize people through fun activities will draw more people downtown.
“The biggest challenge is keeping things fresh and different,” Halvorsen says. “I would say bringing in a different generation, not the people who are looking at their mail (or) hearing about events from mailers, but more people who are online.”
Runstrom agrees, saying:
“We’re going after a younger demographic like 25-45 — more like the millennial age — (in) creating a family-friendly game you can bring your kids to, bringing in more families to town, showing them there is something you can do down here. It is fun to walk our downtown and see all the different shops.”
“It’s great to see people come downtown to have fun,” she adds.
Halvorsen and Runstrom would like to see more people regularly frequent the downtown area beyond the festivals and large events.
“I think our downtown is so cute. I think the more people we bring in to appreciate it the better. And these events are all about awareness – Bringing in new people and showing them what Lowell has to offer,” Runstrom says.
The pair would like to see more businesses starting up in Lowell, and they hope to continue to inspire others to create and plan “easy fun” that will promote downtown.
“The more that come and participate in these events, the better we all do,” Runstrom says.
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