Six new signs have appeared at entrances to the city of Delaware, saying “Discover the Joy of a Hometown Christmas! Discover Downtown Delaware.”

Inside many of Delaware’s downtown businesses, fliers underscore that sentiment.

“Discover Downtown!” the flier begins, then lists a number of downtown attractions, from “20+ places to dine, drink, snack or get a dessert treat” to “dozens of unique stores to shop in featuring clothing, shoes, antiques, books, CDs and records É” to “a copy center who printed this very flyer!” At the very bottom of the flier, in smaller letters, are the words, “Support Your Local Economy.”

Both the signs and fliers are part of an informal downtown promotion effort started by Pat Bailey, owner of Endangered Species: the last record store on earth.

That effort began, Bailey said, before the 2011 Delaware County Fair. He conducted an informal survey of other downtown businesses, asking merchants for a donation to help cover the cost of a fair booth.

He planned to promote Dela-ware’s downtown from the booth, theorizing that harness racing fans and other fair visitors might be enticed to see a little more of Dela-ware as long as they were in the neighborhood.

Twenty-two merchants gave him $60 each, he said. The resulting $1,320 was more than he needed for a fair booth, he said, so the signs and fliers were purchased.

Discover Downtown has no structured organization, Bailey said. Participants have been meeting at 9 a.m. Thursdays at Choffey’s Coffee and Confections on West Winter Street.

If participating merchants agree on future projects, any needed funding would be collected at that time, Bailey said.

He anticipates other seasonal promotional efforts, on Valentine’s Day and in the spring and summer. “So far, we’re taking baby steps,” Bailey said last week in his shop at 12 N. Sandusky St.

Bailey said he was inspired in part by Celebrate Delaware, a defunct organization of downtown merchants, and a desire “to pull a community spirit together like we used to have 20 years ago.”

Tami Furlong, whose book and educational toy store, Fundamentals, is a few doors west of Choffey’s at 25 W. Winter St., said she supports Discover Downtown.

“I love it,” she said. “Anything we can do to promote the downtown.”

Furlong, who’s been in business 23 years, said she was part of Celebrate Delaware, and she misses it.

“There’s not a group like Celebrate Delaware used to be,” she said. “We just did so many things; it was so fun.”

One collaborative effort, Furlong mentioned, was advertising together.

Frances Jo Hamilton, executive director of Main Street Delaware — a nonprofit downtown group partially funded by the city government — said advertising together is something Discover Downtown could do that Main Street can’t because of its nonprofit status. Instead, Main Street works to put “feet on the street,” largely thanks to volunteers, she said. “We get them on the sidewalk. It’s the merchants’ job to get them in (their stores).”

Main Street board president Jesse Carter said Main Street does produce informational literature that identifies downtown businesses and what they do.

Hamilton said in her five years as Main Street director, she has seen three merchants’ groups crop up, Discover Downtown being the third.

“It’s nothing new,” she said. “Always a few (Main Street) members feel individual businesses need more assistance than I can provide them. É The last two have just fizzled out.

“If we could collaborate that would be the ideal situation,” she said. “The struggle I’m having is their meetings are the same time as (Main Street) promotions committee meetings.

“It’s a little disconcerting” to force merchants to make a choice, she said.

Hamilton said she has talked to Bailey about Discover Downtown, but Main Street has not “officially received an invitation to a meeting. It’s a little frustrating,” she said.

Bailey said his fliers mention the downtown farmers markets and First Fridays, both Main Street programs.

“We’re not competing. We’re both working toward the same goal,” he said.

At D.P.S. Antiques on North Sandusky Street, Carlene Cutler said she contributed to Bailey’s fair booth fund.

“A lot of people come for the fair from all over,” she said. “I’m all for trying to benefit downtown Delaware.”

Next door to the Mean Bean, Michele Schwab was inside her paint-your-own-pottery shop, The Bare Bowl, whose window sported a Discover Downtown poster. Christmas is her busiest time of the year and she’s been too engaged in her own business to become involved in the Main Street-Discover Delaware conversation, Schwab said. “I want people to come downtown so I put it up,” she said. “I’m really supportive of anything that gets people downtown.”

Furlong, for her part, said she was glad to see Bailey return to Delaware. He owned another downtown record store before leaving the state in 1997.

“He’s come back to town with all kinds of energy. That's just what we need,” she said.