The Main Street Advisory Board's newest members plan to bring high energy, enthusiasm and progressive ideas to downtown Gainesville to draw crowds and keep business buzzing.

The Gainesville City Council appointed four new members to the board at its meeting Tuesday: Derrick Case, owner of Dress Up Boutique; Brett Fowler, an agent at Turner, Wood and Smith Insurance; DeAnna Browne, operations and finance administrator at Hall County United Way; and Amanda McClure, executive director at the Quinlan Visual Arts Center.

The board has a four-fold plan for growth downtown, encompassing design, organization, promotion and economic restructuring, Advisory Board manager Angela Thompson said. The newest members on the board were appointed to aid in each of these aspects, she added.

Members Scott Dixon, Art Kunzer, Dale Jaeger and City Council member Myrtle Figueras will continue in their positions on the board. Gladys Wyant, Gary Funk, Linda Orenstein and Debra Harkrider were not reappointed.

At Dress Up Boutique, 25-year-old Case is one of the youngest business owners in town. His shop, which sells clothing aimed at high school, college and professional women, is one of the newer stores on the square, and one of the few stores that stays open on Sundays.

The Cases have boutiques in Suwanee and Dahlonega, both bustling on the weekends. Case would like to see similar activity in their Gainesville store, he said.

"Sundays are just as busy as Saturdays in every other location, but here it's dead because there's nobody else that's open. We're busy enough to stay open but that's about the extent of it," Case said.

He said he'd like to see later business hours and more social activities downtown, particularly on the weekends.

"I'm interested in just doing what I can do to help everybody realize that times have changed, and if you don't adapt with everything, it's not going to be good for everybody else's business," he said.

Thompson said she'd also like to see longer hours and shops open on Sundays in the square.

But with family-owned businesses, Sunday is often a self-employed merchant's only day off, Thompson said.

The board would also like to buck the tradition of quiet Southern Sundays and rolled-up sidewalks before nightfall.

Most businesses close at 5 or 6 p.m., Thompson said. Dress Up Boutique stays open until 7 p.m.

"It's just an older mentality of doing business, that eventually we hope to see change," she said.

The advisory board has tested the waters with First Fridays, a summer social event that kept shops open later on the square on June 3 and July 1, offered live music and allowed adults to carry open containers of alcohol.

First Fridays will also be held Aug. 5 and Sept. 2.

"Downtown Gainesville is the heart of Hall County, and we want to see it continue to grow," Thompson said.

The change in command also brings a welcome rest for members who have been on the board for years.

Although not reappointed, Gladys Wyant, a founding member of the board, plans to stay involved, she said.

"I've been through all of the directors, and I've been through some exciting programs," she said. "Everything that I see is good, and it's for the benefit of the downtown merchants and the benefit of the community."

She also expects her successors to energize the square with innovative plans, she said.

"When you're on the board so long — I mean, we have aged a bit," she said with a laugh. "And it's good to have fresh ideas."

Former member and Gem Jewelry owner Linda Orenstein stepped down to allow other community members to influence business and growth, she said.

"You get somebody in there long enough, and they just get stale and they start going through the motions," she said.

"If you get fresh people in, they get excited at new challenge and they bring new ideas, and it's good for the organization, so I have no problem with that."