From an interview by Dianne Herrin

Seventeen years ago, Holly Brown had a hunch. She had a feeling that downtown West Chester, which at the time was dominated by office buildings and bereft of life during the evenings and weekends, was poised for a comeback. Taking a risk, she invested her savings earned as a highly successful VP of Sales for Devault Packing Company in her new downtown store, KALY. After nearly five years of financial struggles, her shop began operating in the black. Today, it is a successful business as well as a friendly gathering place for local women looking for unique items.

On first glance, one might assume this good fortune happened to Holly. Once you get to know her, however, it becomes clear this good fortune happened because of Holly.

Holly's history

When Holly first opened her shop, West Chester had few retail stores. You couldn't buy lunch downtown on a Saturday afternoon, and Holly even recalls feeling a bit afraid to walk through town on a Sunday evening. So, she went to work. She read books, talked to people, and learned how to make a town vital. She discovered the "golden rule" of revitalization, and she has been advocating the "3 Rs" ever since. "A town needs Retail, Restaurants, and Residents," says Holly. "People need to not only work in the town, but to live in the town and have good reasons to spend their time there. These are the things that make a town come to life."

With her newfound knowledge, high energy, and undying commitment, Holly helped start several local working groups to address the problem. One of these groups was the Citizens Business Alliance (CBA) which spearheaded a ten-year effort to bring the 3 Rs to town. This group successfully lobbied for an ordinance allowing first-floor retail shops. Holly and other CBA members also led a successful fight against a proposed ordinance that would have eliminated all height and design requirements in town, and the group effectively stopped the County's proposal to construct an eight-story office building on Gay Street. This County plan would have required razing irreplaceable, charming old buildings and had no accommodations for first-floor retail stores or restaurants.

Holly has also been a critical member of the more recently formed Business Improvement District (BID), as she helped get the group approved and served on its board for years. The BID's structure — with volunteer members and paid staffers (thanks to an assessment of property owners) — has made the BID highly successful. The BID has worked tirelessly to promote our downtown with its professional borough-wide guide to restaurants and retail shops as well as a very effective website. The BID also helps rent second- and third-floor apartments to good residents and businesspeople and is now working on a way-finding system that will direct visitors to parking garages, stores and dining establishments.

Holly's future

In her smart tradition of caring for our town, Holly is now running to represent Ward One on Borough Council, and she has some very important reasons for seeking this position. Foremost, Holly wants to continue to advance the three Rs. She will put her skills to work to ensure that our town remains desirable for business, while keeping her sharp eye on downtown properties to help defend our town against opportunistic developers. Holly will not allow the quality of life, which she has worked so hard to achieve, to disintegrate. She foresees the next four years as crucial, in part because the County will be constructing a very large building at the West End. "I will protect the integrity of our downtown," she promises. "This town is for the residents."

Holly, who started Swinging Summer Thursdays, will also advocate to close the downtown streets on Friday and Saturday evenings in the summer. She envisions a return of sorts to the old-fashioned street scenes we now see only in paintings: people strolling and conversing with no cars or trucks whizzing by, folks eating leisurely at the umbrella-lined cafes along Gay Street, and neighbors greeting each other with a smile.

Finally, Holly sees the drinking problem among college students as a real challenge for our town, particularly for the south-side residents. She will work with other council members to involve the university in sharing responsibility for controlling students' behaviors.

A complete vision

As her history demonstrates, Holly has a vision of success that goes well beyond "economics at the expense of quality of life." For her, success is a balance of financial success, preservation of our town's historic beauty, and, most of all, strength of community. When Holly sets her aim on a goal, she does so for the common good of all residents. Concludes Holly: "I love this town, because I think this is the way we were meant to live."

With Holly at the helm of our ward, we will all reap the rewards of her dream come true.


Holly Brown's achievements:

• Attended Carnegie Mellon University for three years.
• Has resided in West Chester since 1980.
• Raised two daughters and a son and is grandmother to a five-year-old girl and one-year-old baby girl.
• Ran several marathons and is still going strong!
• Grew the local Devault Packing Company from a $5-million to a $42- million business as their Food Service Division Vice President of Sales.
• Opened KALY boutique 17 years ago on Church Street. KALY is now a highly successful retail business at 37 West Gay Street.
• Helped found the Downtown Main Street Association and Citizens Business Alliance. These groups successfully led the effort to revitalize downtown West Chester by improving our economic base while maintaining our town's historic charm and improving quality of life for all residents.
• Helped get the Business Improvement District approved and served as a visionary board member.
• Instrumental in creating Swinging Summer Thursdays.

Elect Holly Brown
to Borough Council