This year it is more important than ever to help local and smaller businesses around the area.
Local shopkeepers have planned events to make it both a pleasant shopping experience and a way to snag some good buys.
Brandi McGarvey explained that Thieves Market and the Country Peddlers at 210 N. Front St., Philipsburg, is like a mall without walls. She and her husband, Chris McGarvey, own the 6,000-square-foot space that houses 35 vendors with new and old furniture items priced to sell.
“We are having a four-day event starting on Wednesday, Nov. 25 through Monday, Nov. 30,” McGarvey said.
She described it as “four days of deals, discounts and special buys.” The store will be open on Black Friday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and then on Small Business Saturday, Nov. 28, the hours are from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
“On Shop Small Saturday, we are giving a gift with purchase, limited to 30,” she said. “Then on Monday, Nov. 30, we will hold our 9th Annual Deer Lonely Ladies Day with door prizes and other incentives.”
Thieves Market and the Country Peddlers in Philipsburg. Submitted photo
Also, in Philipsburg, you can shop local at Conklin’s Corner Antique and Gift Barn, 670 Tyrone Pike.
Terri Conklin, the owner, said, “Conklin’s is a 14,000-square-foot barn with the left side mostly featuring antiques and collectibles. Many shops rent space in the building also. The right side is our Country Gift Shop with general merchandise, candles, crafts, all manner of themed items, including baby and inspirational. There is also an in-house Buddy Boy Winery with 40 varieties of wine.”
On the second floor, the Christmas Room is certain to invite visitors to add another decoration to the home for the holidays or to purchase a small gift for a friend.
“One half of the room is full of furniture,” said Terri.
“We also have a half-price room on the second floor. For the Black Friday weekend we will have specials and from Black Friday through Dec. 23, we will be open seven days a week. Hours will be 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 8 p.m. on Sunday.”
The Christmas Room at Conklin’s Corner Antique and Gift Barn, 670 Tyrone Pike in Philipsburg.
All shopkeepers expressed that the public should know they will be observing all safety precautions during this time of the pandemic.
Downtown Bellefonte Inc. (DBI) shared some of their upcoming events for the shopping season. From Nov. 27 to Dec. 18, it will hold its “Shop Small and Crawl Bellefonte.” During these days, customers have a chance to win a prize package of gift certificates from Bellefonte businesses worth more than $700.
The Crawl begins on Small Business Saturday, Nov. 27 and it works like this:
• Purchase a shop small crawl tote bag for $5 at Belle Mercantile, Bonfatto’s, Confer’s Jewelers, Axemann Brewery, Bellefonte Springboard or at the DBI welcome table in Talleyrand Park. The totes include a free face mask, part of DBI’s effort to promote safe shopping.
• When you buy something, tell the merchant you are doing the crawl and receive a button or buy one for $1.
• Collect a minimum of 15 buttons to be entered into the prize drawing.
• Email a picture of your tote to DBI and then post on social media with the #LoveBFT tag and gain one more entry. Note that all merchants are observing safe practices during the pandemic of masking, distancing, and disinfecting.
SPE Federal Credit Union is sponsoring this event.
Downtown State College is also doing its part with businesses participating in efforts to entice people to shop local.
Katie Dawes, owner of Kitchen Kaboodle, 104 W. Beaver Ave., highlights the need for downtown retailers to remain vigilant regarding shopper safety this season.
“We are excited to offer these [Small Business Saturday] specials to our customers,” she says, clarifying, “We want to be very thoughtful on how we promote this holiday season, given the growing concern over COVID-19 spikes. We will continue to be vigilant with cleaning and limiting the number of customers in our store as well as [at] our enter and exit doors.”
Kitchen Kaboodle is offering discounts on a range of products, from cutlery to kitchen gadgets to gifts suitable for the holiday season. On Small Business Saturday it will have gift with purchase opportunities.
The Makery, 209 W Calder Way, is likewise participating in next week’s Small Business Saturday, with The Makery Market open 10 a.m.–2 p.m. and offering 10% off purchases, with special precautions.
“Unfortunately, we can’t do Open Studio activities for children as we have in the past, but we will still have a fun, holiday-themed day,” owner Amy Frank says.
Many downtown retailers are offering surprise ‘thank you’ gifts with every purchase, including The Makery Market and Three Little Birds Boutique, 220 E. Calder Way, which will have buy one, get one 50% off on everything in the store and a free earring or mask with every purchase.
Other retailers are getting creative, such as The Nittany Quill, 111 S. Fraser St., which is offering afternoon appetizers and beverages to shoppers, and Ethereal boutique, 216 E. College Ave., with its discount raffle.
Lions Pride, 112 E. College Ave., will give away free T-shirts with a $100 in-store purchases; Evolve Studio, 326 W. Beaver Ave., will offer a gift with purchase from 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; Connections Clothing, 130 S. Allen St., will have an additional 15% off sale items, and for every $25 spent customers will be entered into a raffle to win a gift card from 10 a.m.-7:30 p.m.; Sweet Tooth Bakery and Nittany Balloons, 120 Miller Alley, will provide a free cup of hot chocolate and cookie from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. and balloon animals from noon-2 p.m.
The Makery Market is located inside The Makery, 209 W. Calder Way, State College. Photo by Geoff Rushton | StateCollege.com
“Shopping local has never been more important,” says Lee Anne Jeffries, marketing and communications director at Downtown State College Improvement District. “Many of our cornerstone downtown businesses have been around for 40, 50 and even 100 years. They are struggling and without the help of the community they will not be around to celebrate another anniversary.
“Small Businesses Saturday brings awareness to the importance of supporting our local economy, but it should not be limited to one day. As a community, let’s come together and spend our dollars in our town, where we can make a difference by shopping local first.”
The Art Alliance of Central Pennsylvania is holding an Art Walk on Friday, Dec. 4, from 5 to 8 p.m. and on Saturday, Dec. 5, from noon to 5 p.m. Local artists have been invited into several stores to display their works.
The Downtown Improvement District and The Makery will create an Art Walk map featuring each artist and location for guests and a “passport” that guests will receive on their first stop of the Art Walk.
Guests can turn in completed passports for a chance to win a Downtown State College gift card.
The following sites will have featured artists:
• Lion’s Pride
• Harper’s
• The Makery
• Ethereal Boutique
DSCID also is hosting the Light Up Downtown six-week event. The attraction includes special light and holiday decoration displays scattered around downtown, including a musical, timed lighting show at the Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza on South Fraser Street and decorated trees at the corner of East College Avenue and Locust Lane.
On select days (Dec. 4, 5, 11 and 12), visitors will also be able to find a free gift-wrapping station and hot cocoa served at MLK Plaza, as well as trolley service between Fraser Street and Locust Lane. Additionally, Downtown State College notes on its website that 9-10 a.m. every Monday and Tuesday through Dec. 22, select downtown businesses will be holding special holiday senior shopping hours.
In nearby Boalsburg, A Basket Full at 121 E. Main St., has coupons worth 20 percent off on one item until Dec. 24. A Basket Full sells clothing, home décor, gourmet kitchen items, local food products and much more. Coupons have been placed in flyers in the mail. Visit basket-full.com to see more of their items for sale or call (814) 466-7788.
Downtown State College Improvement District hosts Small Business Saturday in the borough alongside The Happy Valley Adventure Bureau.
“Supporting the county’s local businesses has never been more important than it is right now,” says Fritz Smith, The Happy Valley Adventure Bureau’s president and CEO. “The pandemic is threatening the livelihood of many of our small businesses. The next few months will be particularly challenging. Patronage now will go a long way toward helping our shops, restaurants and other businesses weather the economic crisis resulting from the pandemic.”
