FRANKLIN, La. — A new statewide initiative is aiming to bring local downtown businesses to the online marketplace. "The City of Franklin was chosen to be the pilot program for what's going to be called mymainstreet.net", explains City of Frankilin Public Relations Director Ed "Tiger" Verdin. The state is giving certified mainstreets throughout Louisiana the opportunity to compete in the e-commerce world by creating a website where they can sell their goods online.
The owner of Franklin boutique The French Door, Kathy Latiolais, says "it's not just big box stores you know? We put a lot of love, sweat, and tears into what we do, we love what we do or we wouldn't be here." Her shop sells mostly local products and she currently doesn't have the ability to sell her products online. The new site will work just like Amazon does, allowing shoppers to browse several participating business in one location. "It's awesome for people like us because it gets the products out there that we otherwise wouldn't be able to do", adds Latiolais.
City officials also hope the site will encourage people to get offline and onto the the streets of downtown. The website is set to launch on Black Friday.
