Polk County merchants are gearing up for Small Business Saturday during the holiday shopping season with unique offerings that cannot be found at big-box retailers, such as exclusive clothing items and sentimental gifts.
“Small Business Saturday is like the best day of the year for our downtown small retailers,” said Julie Townsend, executive director of the Lakeland Downtown Development Authority.
Unlike the big-box stores offering deep discounts to attract shoppers, smaller retailers offer more local gear and gifts or specialty items as well as a relaxed shopping experience without a salesman on a loudspeaker telling people where the discounted items are.
“It’s the shopping experience that makes you feel good because you’re able to support local businesses” without long lines and shopping carts, Townsend said.
It’s not just the shop owners talking about it, the unique offerings of local merchants is showing up in data from the National Retail Federation.
According to NRF, in 2022, more than 122.7 million people walked into stores over the Black Friday weekend, which was a 17% increase year over year.
The local merchants include clothing boutiques and coffee shops opening as early as 7 a.m. to bars open until past midnight with specials and door busters, giving downtown visitors something to do all weekend at any hour of the day after turkey dinner on Thursday.
In Winter Haven: ‘A lot of great things’
In Winter Haven, at least 35 businesses are working on promotions targeting shoppers visiting its downtown during the kickoff of the holiday shopping season. Main Street Winter Haven is hosting a Shop Small Saturday event, among other programming.
“There’s a lot of great things these businesses have and offer, but really what we’re highlighting from Main Street are a lot of their door-busters and specials that they are offering for that day,” said Meghan Makie, director of membership and marketing at Main Street.
Among the retailers offering exclusive items and unique experiences are Bellies-2-Babies, The Haven Local Shop, The Florida Room and Gourmet Goodies, to name just a few.
Andy Thornal Company, the store for eclectic old-school outdoor gear and fly-fishing lessons, will continue its tradition of offering $10 off purchases of $50 or more and $30 off any $150 purchase, said manager Corbin Hart, who is the fourth generation to work at the family-owned business since it opened in 1945.
He said there will also be some gift-with-purchase specials throughout the store, especially with its top brands of sunglasses, shoes and sandals. Thornal offers both dress and outdoor clothing, knives, flashlights and fine jewelry.
A new item is a Dometic electric-powered cooler that freezes to minus seven degrees and plugs into a vehicle’s cigarette lighter port, Hart said. “That’s one of our most popular features this year.”
Hart said he is starting to notice more foot traffic at local merchants on the days when big-box stores offer online bargains.
“I’ve noticed a big uptick in traffic on those days because the experience that you get at a small business like ours on those holidays is just totally different,” he said. “You get one-on-one customer service; you get one-on-one attention, and you get quality products you just can’t get anywhere else.”
In Lakeland: ‘It’s a fun shopping experience’
Townsend also said local merchants offer more than just unique gifts and clothing.
“It’s a much more relaxed shopping experience,” Townsend added. “It’s a fun shopping experience. You know, and I tell people it’s where you pick up gifts that say you are special.” That’s because items for sale are artisan, fair-trade, handmade things from other countries or items that go toward supporting a cause.
“They’re meaningful and they’re much more individualized,” she said. There are Lakeland items such as swans, as well as shops offering women’s clothing and accessories, tea sets, children’s clothing and gifts as well as gift cards from local eateries to axe-throwing or escape-room venues. The LDDA offers Tasty Tuesday tickets too.
“You can buy great downtown Lakeland experiences to give to someone who perhaps you think already has everything that they need,” she said.
Townsend said several merchants have been open for many years — even decades — catering to the local shopper, including Traditions Unlimited, Marni Johnson Home Essentials and Scout and Tag, which all have been open for at least 10 years or even several decades.
Alisha Lowett at Amelia Page Boutique said Saturday is typically the busiest day of the year for her store, which offers ladies clothing and accessories.
“We are more of a ladies gift boutique,” Lowett said. In addition to the clothing, there are sentimental and faith-based gifts. The style of clothing appeals to a wide range of ages from 16-year-olds on up to senior citizens.
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It’s unique offering is a hat bar where customers can customize a rancher- or trucker-style hat with different fabric, patches or pins such as hearts, lightning bolts or butterflies or jewelry, among others.
On its Instagram page, the boutique posts boots, fashion tops, t-shirts and denim clothing with a cowboy and country theme.
In Dixieland, business owner Christine Boring at Bungalow Boutique and Gifts runs a boutique for women’s clothing and gifts where shoppers can find items for a wife, mother or daughter as well as something for themselves such as loungewear and dresswear. Most items are under $100.
“What we carry is unlike what any of the other stores carry. We try to keep things kind of exclusive,” said Boring’s sister and manager Barbara Boulerice.
The boutique is housed in a former art gallery and has maintained a small selection of local artwork by painters Mary May Witte and Scott West.
“We always have a lot of swans in the store, being that we are here in Lakeland,” Boulerice said.