Downtown Hays is now ‘The Bricks’

the bricks ribbon cutting by hays cvb — The Hays Area Chamber of Commerce hosted a ribbon cutting Thursday for the launch of “The Bricks,” the new cohesive marketing campaign for downtown Hays.

By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

Red bricks are ubiquitous in downtown Hays–from the streets to the buildings.

“The Bricks,” a new branding and marketing strategy by the Downtown Hays Development Corporation, officially launched Thursday. It’s designed to unify all of downtown, including the historic Chestnut Street District.

DHDC Executive Director Sara Bloom presented the concept to Hays City Commissioners in mid-September. Vice-Mayor Shaun Musil called it “awesome.”

“I personally love that you’ve gotten to all the stores and talked to people. You’ve told me previously that the business owners haven’t worked together and they want to do that. To me, that’s huge, ” Musil said.

“I think it’s unique for downtown. It sets us apart and we can build on it,” Musil said, adding a “congratulations” to Bloom and her staff.

Sandy Jacobs, DHDC board president, told commissioners all the marketing for “The Bricks” will include the information that it is “partially funded by the city of Hays.”

Bloom said DHDC expects the unifying brand “The Bricks” to “shift the community’s focus from thinking about what businesses need to come to downtown to thinking about how to bring people downtown.”