NASHUA -- Antoinette Drouart wants to put flowers outside her Japanese-inspired floral shop to attract more customers, but the front of her store is in direct sunlight.

What would help is an awning on the front of her downtown shop, Ikebana Flower. After taking part in a Nashua small business workshop, called Best Retail Practices, she is now eligible for a $1,000 grant to help her pay for the shade.

Drouart said her biggest challenge is getting people to walk off Main Street and down the side street where her store sits. An outside display could help draw people in, she said.

She also hopes to use some of the money to install an air conditioner in the back of her store where she runs traditional Japanese flower arranging classes.

Ikebana Flower, which Drouart runs herself, opened in 2003. Every year since then her bottom line has improved, but money for extras is still hard to come by.

To receive the grant, she had to attend the workshop where she met with a marketing consultant who gave her ideas about store design and merchandise display.

Scott Slattery, who runs Nashua's Urban Programs Department, still has five more $1,000 grants to hand out. The grants are targeted specifically to micro-enterprises -- businesses with no more than seven employees.

The Best Retail Practices program is modeled after a successful economic development initiative that has been running in Cambridge, Mass., for the last six years. A marketing consultant who has worked with Cambridge, Christine Graber, came to Nashua to help run its program.

The money comes from a federal grant, and Slattery said she also hopes to do some local fundraising for the project.

The program is designed to help small businesses compete with larger stores, said Slattery.

"We know that there are a lot of small businesses struggling. We want to provide some solutions and assistance," he said. "We just want to be very supportive of the small businesses in the downtown area."

Another workshop is scheduled tomorrow in City Hall, Room 208. The two-hour workshop is free and open to businesses of every size.

For information, call Helen Franco at 589-3086.