Our mission is to ensure that Independence’s Historic Downtown continues to be the heart of our community.  The Independence Main Street Program, through the combined efforts of public/private partnerships, preserves and markets the downtown area as a community treasure, focusing on historic preservation, continuing reinvestment, and developing heritage tourism.  Together, we can preserve Independence’s great history and promote its bright future. Independence Main Street strives to maintain Independence’s downtown area as the focus of the community where history is preserved, businesses thrive, and citizens and visitors dine, shop, live, and enjoy the arts and entertainment.

Just a few ways that Independence Main Street benefits you!

• Historical business district support for owners making repairs and improvements with over $30,000 in no-interest loans.

• Sales of more than $22,000 in Main Street gift certificates, a program that keeps dollars spent locally in some 60 stores, restaurants and services.

• Events, such as sponsorship of the summer sidewalk sale, moonlight shopping event, Sip and Shop, First Thursday, Ladies Night Out, co-sponsorship of activities such as the Farmers Market, ICC block party, and the downtown Pub Crawl, attract numerous shoppers to Independence.

• Monies spent and many hours of volunteer labor to refurbish the downtown Christmas decorations through cleanup, rewiring, and repainting. Downtown streetscape banners are purchased by Main Street and hung seasonally by city workers.

• Official sponsorship of "Small Business Saturday" a national promotion that leverages Black Friday and "buy-local" interests.

• Holiday launch starts with downtown open house events and concludes with our annual Thanksgiving & Christmas parade. $1000 "Holiday Dollars" (Main Street Bucks) which are donated by local businesses. drawn after the parade, good at local stores, resulting in money spent locally.

• Encourage downtown businesses to take pride in their store front appearance.

• Through both traditional and social media, an aggressive advertising effort to make downtown a destination; our Facebook page now has more than 3,100 followers.

• Promotion of your business on the Main Street website and a direct link to your website.

Gift Certificates

Independence Main Street offers Gift Certificates in the amount of $5, $10, $15, $20 and $25.  They are accepted at all participating Main Street member businesses!

For more information about Gift Certificates or to make a purchase, contact our office!