The mass opening ceremony will be on Tuesday, September 29, from 11.20am.
After making a short speech outside the Palmerston Museum, the mayor will be piped from store to store to perform the openings, Good Keen Kiwi Books joint owner Jim Moffat said.
The new businesses are: Ali the Barber, Good Keen Kiwi Books, Inside Out, Design Withdrawals, Lilys, Accounting2You, Northwestern Takeaways, Palmerston Museum, Out of the Closet and the Ronaldsay St second-hand shop.
Four other businesses which have changed hands in the last two years - Waihemo Pharmacy, Applebys, Palmerston Butchery and Trash Converters - are being invited to join the occasion. There are now only three empty business premises in the town.
The number of new businesses was "remarkable", Waihemo Community Board chairman Rod Philip said.
The opening ceremonies align with a visit by the Seasider train, which will arrive at 11.05am and stay for longer than the usual 45 minutes, giving passengers a chance to watch proceedings and explore the shops, Taieri Gorge Railway operations manager Grant Craig said.
