Retail shop owners and managers along Broadway in Saratoga Springs say that the "shop local" mentality has worked this holiday season, and the snow only seemed to make people want to buy more.
Many are quick to admit that the situation is far worse for bars and restaurants, and shops off Broadway are not feeling quite the same love.
However, downtown shoppers, the retailers said in a smattering of interviews, are embracing the idea that shopping local is not just sustaining a local resource. Weekend shopping offered a way to get outside.
And shoppers were avoiding malls, "for their own safety," said Karl Cragnolin at Union Hall, 437 Broadway. The individual shops mean fewer strangers to mix with, fewer crowds. Ever since Black Friday--the Friday after Thanksgiving Day--sales have been strong, he said.
The Cooperstown Distillery, 453 Broadway, had the dubious distinction of opening the doors for the first time last Thursday, as the snow was coming down.
“The snowstorm kind of scared us,” said owner Gene Marra, but the weekend proved otherwise. “We had a magnificent day on Saturday,” he said, adding that cabin fever after just a couple days buried at home drove foot traffic and sales.
At the Mountainman Outdoor Supply Company, 490 Broadway, manager Grace Kneller said this past weekend was better than the same weekend last year. Of course, a company that sells winter wear after an unexpectedly large snowstorm has an advantage.
Still, she said work-from-home has had an effect. People are nearby all day. They do not go off elsewhere to work. Stopping in during a lunch break is possible, and she said she has noticed the uptick in mid-day sales.
Todd Shimkus, president of the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce, said, “On the retail side, I actually hear good things.” This might not be accidental. The Chamber, after raising nearly $30,000 in donations for the “Save Our Locals” program, including a $10,000 gift from the Saratoga County Capital Resource Corporation, has poured money into all types of advertising, including boosted social media posts, videos, and more traditional advertising.
“We’ve got a billboard,” Shimkus said.
He said remaining money will be used to promote sales during the dark days of January and February, a time that one retailer called “a couple of crappy months.”
Everyone said how much they appreciated the community.
“Our locals are fantastic,” said Stacy DeGaray, manager of the Savory Pantry, 486 Broadway. The area is lucky to have a clientele with many still working, and the people are generous.
Jennifer Lamb, the owner of Menges & Curtis, the apothecary at the corner of Broadway and Church Street, said, “The community rallying around downtown has been amazing.” It was a long, tough, summer, and she choked up a bit at the outpouring of good will this season: “It’s been moving, emotionally moving.”
The snow did not bother Christine Goutos of Rockabella Boutique, a block off Broadway at 10 Lake Ave. Her season thus far has been just OK, she said.
She went into the shop on Thursday, through 30-odd inches of snow.
“It was a great office day,” she said. It was peaceful, like a snow day, gave her a bit of a breather, she said.
The rain expected on Christmas Eve, however, has her a bit more worried. For shops that rely on sidewalk foot traffic: “No one walks in the rain.”