KINGSTON — After forming in November, the Downtown Kingston Association has wasted little time buckling down in hopes of making the Little City by the Sea a major destination spot.

One of the group’s methods to set the town apart and bring in more visitors is by introducing unique entrepreneurs with interesting items for sale.

“Way back when we first moved here, there was a concrete building kitty-corner to us,” said Kingston Stakeholder and DKA member Tom Waggoner during Tuesday afternoon’s meeting. “There was a butcher there, and he had all the usual beef and pork cuts. But people would come from miles around to visit him and buy their meat. We need something like that now to get people to visit Kingston.”

DKA member Dan Martin said he’s attended numerous presentations and programs the National Trust Main Street Center has hosted, and the idea of an “unusual business” is something that draws people to a community. The DKA has been working with the National Trust Main Street Center to join its program in an effort revitalize Kingston.

“At one of the presentations, the speaker said that the competitor nowadays is not the neighboring business, but the Internet,” said DKA president Nancy Martin. “Now, communities and businesses need to find ways to compete with the Internet and draw people to their downtowns.”

One way to pull residents away from their computers is by offering small town charm and retailers who are actively working to entice shoppers, Dan Martin said.

“At the program, the speaker said that you need to set up your downtown to match the retailers,” he said. “She gave us a lot of good ideas on what we can do once we are in the Main Street program, and start having more influence.”

One idea was to bring in an unusual business, or a store or spa geared toward maintaining a healthy lifestyle, Dan Martin said. Statistics at the presentation he attended indicated that people who are in their 50s and 60s will pay for products that make them feel and look younger. Towns with spas and beauty businesses draw more visitors than towns without, he said. That combined with a shop selling something unusual tends to get people talking.

“We could have someone selling earthworms, and people would come and buy them,” Waggoner said with a laugh.

“We should look for young entrepreneurs and help get them set up if we can, provide them with seed money to help get them going,” Dan Martin said, brainstorming ways to make Kingston a destination spot once the DKA joins the Main Street program. “Entrepreneurs will help create new ideas in the town, and they will also create more jobs if the business is successful.”

DKA member and Port of Kingston Commissioner Pete DeBoer pointed out that before the community can add new businesses, first it must address parking. The No. 1 goal, Nancy Martin agreed, would be to expand parking for the downtown area so as to create more businesses that draw in visitors.

“Otherwise, we’ll be putting the cart before the horse,” she said.