[ad_1]
WATERTOWN – Buyers eager to support local businesses gathered at the Paddock Arcade and visited the vendors and stores that were inside during the small business on Saturday.
A dozen merchant stands lined up in the main lobby and Santa Claus entertained the children while the Northern Blend Chorus sang from the second floor during the WatertownFirst show dedicated to the National Shop Local Saturday event. This year marks the fourth anniversary of the local holiday market, said Cody J. Horbacz, Executive Director of WatertownFirst.
Colleen Shear and her children were part of the consumer crowd visiting vendors selling clothes, fudge, honey, jewelry and other items while her parents were shopping at Paddock Arts and Antiques.
"I just think it's a great idea to showcase what we have in our community," she said.
The Public Square covered shopping center welcomed a wave of couples, families, friends and other customers at noon. Although the crowd decreased thereafter, customer traffic remained stable throughout the day.
"It's awesome. I've talked to all the vendors and they love it every year, "Horbacz said. "Of course, when Santa came here, you could not move."
In addition to the holiday market, WatertownFirst has organized two new events to celebrate the move of the stores: a reception in the atrium of the Franklin Building and an after-party in Savory Downtown.
"Our mission is to promote and support independent local businesses," said Horbacz. "We want to encourage people to shop during the holidays throughout the year."
The stores and restaurants inside the arcade welcomed the rise in pedestrian traffic resulting from the event, while consumers, young and old, viewed their products or viewed their menus.
Monica P. Atanasova, owner of Europe Cakes, said the event helped attract more people to the city center and gave her more time to interact with customers. Lee E. Ellsworth, co-owner of Paddock Arts, said the festivities not only helped to increase sales, but also help customers find unique items in stores like this that one usually finds not in national chain stores or online.
"People are looking forward to Saturday shopping and shopping at local businesses," he said.
Several shops and restaurants on the public square, in the city center and in several northern regions of the country also participated in Small Business Saturday, the national event organized by American Express in 2010.
Denise M. McLane decorated his Public Square Solitary Consignment store with blue and white balloons and flags encouraging consumers to "shop small" and "support their community" when they entered the home. Customers benefited from a 20% discount on all items, with the exception of liquidation products, which benefited from a 80% discount. The local retailer said the pedestrian traffic generated by the event was increasing every year.
"It's huge, it brings people downtown," she said, "It's a big event for us, but it's our regularity that keeps us going."
Jody A. Shuler, owner of EyeCrave Optics, and Eva Pierce, co-owner of Spokes Craft Beer and Tapas Restaurant, both opened their businesses early to participate in the event. They said they hoped it would help strengthen the downtown entrepreneurial community, Mr. Shuler adding that he would like to see more of his neighbors open during the weekends.
"The more we work together, the better downtown becomes a destination," Pierce said.
Charles Barrett screened 50-cent vinyl records for the album on a table outside Thrifted. While he's shopping every Saturday in downtown to support local businesses, he said he wanted to see more stores open for the event.
Mr. Barrett remembers the booming downtown area in the '50s and' 60s, while offering several more stores than he does today. Saturday's small business, however, "looks more like what it was," he said.
"If we show an interest in reviving the city center, then the city center has a chance to survive," he said.
[ad_2]
Source link
