EvotoLOOKING TO THE FUTURE: Robin Lapidus, named executive director of Experience Princeton last month, comes to Princeton after helping grow business districts in towns such as Cambridge, Mass., and Flemington.
By Anne Levin
Downtown Princeton reminds Robin Lapidus of Harvard Square. The recently appointed executive director of Experience Princeton, Lapidus sees similarities between Princeton and the Cambridge, Mass., town where she went to college and later led its nonprofit business association.
“Like Cambridge, Princeton is anchored in a college town and is so culturally rich in every way,” she said in a telephone conversation this week. “Commercially, too — the diversity of food choices, shopping, and artistic performance choices — there is just so much to do.”
Lapidus joined Experience Princeton, the nonprofit special improvement district serving the business community, in November, succeeding Isaac Kremer. Despite its assets, marketing the town has room for improvement, she acknowledged.
“What it really needs is a 2026 review of wayfinding and user experience opportunities,” Lapidus said. “While we have so much for anyone of all ages and pocketbooks to come visit and be totally enchanted whether a longtime resident, student, parent, or tourist — there are opportunities to call out our assets to lead people to easy parking, traveling here, and mapping. It’s really where I’m going to focus my energies.”
A resident of her hometown of Maplewood, Lapidus graduated from Harvard University and earned a master’s degree in counseling and consulting psychology. “It was kind of a wide cast,” she said. “I did a lot of counseling and consulting work, and realized I’d probably be able to be more effective in fundraising and changemaking by working in the business community.”
The Harvard Square Business Association offered Lapidus the job of director, and she has been doing the same kind of work ever since — first in Cambridge, and later in nearby Central Square and in Provincetown, Mass. Most recently, she led the business improvement district in Flemington, securing grant funding to help found the Stangl Arts and Cultural District, and creating such signature events as the Corn, Tomato, and Beer Festival and the Central Jersey Jazz Festival.
In addition to wayfinding, Lapidus’ focus in Princeton will include what she calls “playful pauses.”
“That can include an art interaction or a comfortable bench to sit down and take in the street life,” she said. “I think we’re going to add a layer of playful pause fun and visitor amenities that will improve the experience. But there are large symptomatic challenges we are also addressing around parking, business visibility, signage, and harmonizing the zoning for businesses and residences. So while we are trying to prop the set to make it more comfortable, impactful, and exciting, we are also digging deep on the larger issues we need to address to be the best destination in New Jersey in 2026.”
The recent reopening of the Princeton University Art Museum, and the fact that it is free, are a major attraction. “But this does require some more work on our part, to be sure people understand where to park, how to walk to the site, and all of the other assets to make it a great day,” said Lapidus. “We have this world-class asset, and we want to make sure people travel there happily, and with good information.”
As part of a grant from Main Street America, Experience Princeton is doing a study about leasing. The study should conclude in May or June of 2026.
“The study is to really understand what we have that’s available, who is in the market that might be interested, and what really is a good fit for the demographic of students, residents, and travelers,” she said. “What really fits and elevates what we have? We have so many options. But what are we also missing?”
Lapidus recognizes the concerns of longtime residents who miss the everyday businesses that once were located on Palmer Square and at the Princeton Shopping Center, and have been replaced by the likes of Hermes and other high-end retailers.
“It’s all part of a larger puzzle that we really need to understand the pieces of, to try and figure out how we can marry public desire with leasing,” she said. “It’s complicated and not uncommon to Princeton. There are no easy answers, but it’s certainly on my work plan to address. Having said that, I do see an incredible amount of handmade, thoughtfully produced, and friendly-priced artwork, coffee, and things made and sourced locally with an eye to being affordable. It’s more so in Princeton than a lot of other places. I find that hopeful and encouraging.”
It is a healthy mix of high- and-lower-end that creates sustainability, Lapidus added. “It’s when you have too much of one or the other that people really struggle to stay in business. So the fact that we have a healthy mix, or work to make the mix healthier, is what will lead to our sustainability at being a great destination.”