Cafe offers chance to sample Sylvania

Wine-tasting event set for downtown

1/21/2013

dean harris

An event this week could help bring people, and some added attention, to downtown Sylvania.

A wine tasting is on the menu Wednesday at Chandler Cafe, as the Main Street business holds its first such event.

Cafe owner Laurie Stansley said the idea came up because the business has a liquor license, as well as a wine bar, that aren’t typically used in the evenings except for private parties.

“So we thought we would make more use of something that we have,” she said.

Ms. Stansley said the event is geared to bring people into downtown Sylvania.

Most traffic dies down in the area during the evening because most of the businesses are closed.

Pat Nowak, executive director of the Sylvania Area Chamber of Commerce, agreed the event will help attract more customers.

“Evening and weekend events are always great for businesses,” Ms. Nowak said.

“The more people who visit downtown, the more businesses will prosper,” she added.

Ms. Stansley hopes to hold the tastings more often if the event goes as planned.

“I would like to then do one once a month,” Ms. Stansley said. “We’ll see how they go, and if people keep requesting them, we’ll do them.”

Ms. Nowak said the tasting will bring more attention to downtown businesses, even if they are not open during the event.

“Even if some businesses are closed, visitors can get an idea of what shops are in the neighborhood and make plans to come back during the day to visit the new offerings,” Ms. Nowak said.

She added that many of the restaurants, in addition to Ace Hardware and Rite Aid, maintain regular evening hours.

The wine tasting begins at 6:30 p.m. Cost is $30 per person.