About


Uniting Business, Art, and Government to Create an Enticing Downtown

Established in 1973, the Downtown Business Association is a non-profit membership association. We promote downtown St. Petersburg as a vibrant, safe and friendly waterfront with outstanding entertainment, restaurants, cultural attractions, educational facilities, retail outlets, art galleries and museums, medical care resources, both modern and historic architectural design and business opportunities.

We represent businesses, for-profit and non-profit cultural establishments, and residents to ensure that their voices are heard and presented in an organized and united effort.

Promotion

The Downtown Business Association and its members sponsor and promote two major events a year. The Sunrise Sale is a promotion that has been tremendously successful for the city of St. Petersburg for the past 36 years. It is downtown’s biggest summer sale and pajama party (special prizes and gifts for those who come in their PJs) starting at 6:43 a.m. every year. The 2009 event was moved to Saturday for the first time in its 35 year history and was a
tremendous success.

The second major promotion is during the holiday season. Our organization has had various holiday promotions over the years with limited success. However, we are planning a 2009 holiday event we expect to be a huge success based on launching a sister event to the Sunrise Sale. We are going to have the first mid- December Sunset Sale with a holiday theme of carolers, holiday libations and street buskers. This event will coincide with several other events on December 12th. We are anticipating attracting people from other shopping locations to
downtown to participate in all the festivities and huge holiday savings.

While promotion is a primary objective for our Downtown Business Association, the organization is also a vital link in representing the views of downtown business to city government and works with other organizations that strive to promote the city of St. Petersburg.

Visibility

We enhance the visibility of downtown St. Petersburg through cooperative advertising within various publications. The association and its members enjoy group discounts as well as discounts from many newspapers, magazines, hotels and tabloids at various times of the year.

Representation

We represent the interests of our membership directly to the Mayor’s office, its marketing department and the City Council. We address city issues such as crime, panhandling, homeless issues, parking, development and the future growth and vision for downtown St. Petersburg.

Support

In conjunction with our two annual promotions we successfully support several charitable organizations during these events. As an example, The Pajama Program has been an appreciative recipient of pajamas and books for underprivileged children being involved in our past three events.

The Downtown Business Association is a founding stakeholder in  The Looper downtown trolley. The Looper is responsible for transporting hundreds of thousands of passengers throughout downtown. For residents and visitors alike,  The Looper is the best spent 25 cents you can spend in downtown St. Petersburg. Not only does it get you there, but you will also experience the entertaining true history of St. Petersburg along the way.