Store Owners Urging 'Shop Local' With Sales and More

Despite the lingering recession, shopping seems to be the order of the season in downtown Ridgefield.

"Sales are fair. I think we are bouncing back from the recession," Touch of Sedona owner Marge Courtney said.

She noted that people are buying smaller, less expensive items but that they are still buying.

"People seem to be spending about half of what they spent before. That is fine. I have lots of things for under $10–hundreds, probably—and also many under $20. Of course, they go up to $10,000," Courtney said with a smile.

Besides pushing their less costly goods, downtown shops are offering coupons and remaining open later hours, all steps to keep shoppers coming and coming again this holiday season.

Shoes 'n More and Parker East Dry Goods have shaken things up with pre-holiday sales that mimic post-holiday prices.

And the Cortina Shop, a children's store, is open late on Friday nights until Christmas in order to lure busy shoppers inside. Another tactic is to "stock things at a lower price point—it definitely helps," manager Kelly Bolan said.

But despite moving across Main Street to a new location, sales are down compared to holidays' past, Bolan said. The Holiday Stroll brought lots of shoppers to Main Street last weekend but Bolan noticed that people were buying less expensive items. Little gifts—stocking stuffers such as toys, coloring books and other diversions—are selling more briskly than the fancy, expensive dresses popular in years past, she said.

The Toy Chest is selling a good number of gifts and workers have noticed that buyers seem enthusiastic about "shopping local." The toy store is selling lots of board games, wooden puzzles and blocks. Owner Ann Lathrop called it a "back to basics" year.

Books on the Common owner Ellen Burns has seen a great increase in sales this holiday season but credits the uptick to relocating to the corner of Main Street and Bailey Avenue from Copps Hill Plaza, a move that gave the charming bookstore much more visibility.

"It's been much, much better than last year but primarily because we moved. We get much more foot traffic here," Burns said.

 She seemed to be right. The store was full of shoppers on Friday morning.

"It's much better than last year. That was a difficult season following the stock market crash," Burns said. To keep customers coming back, the store regularly updates its list of recommendations on their Web site and in the store. They also placed the list in four local papers this year for more visibility. But perhaps they haven't suffered as much as most.

"Books are a reasonably-priced gift. While we aren't recession-proof, we may be a more viable option than something like expensive clothing," she said.