‘A lot of optimism’: Greeley area business owners hopeful for another strong show of support from holiday shoppers

Shoppers filled downtown Greeley businesses on Saturday for the annual Holiday Open House event, encouraging shoppers to keep it local in a festive atmosphere.

Shoppers Coree and Hal Kane of Evans took the opportunity to check out the city’s downtown retailers.

“We’ve been downtown for the restaurants and breweries and stuff like that, but not really the shops,” Hal said.

After getting into the stores, the couple said they plan to do more shopping downtown.

“I just like supporting local businesses,” Coree said.

Shoppers came out in force last year to support local businesses — support that was particularly welcome after COVID-19 began to spread and hurt all kind of business owners’ bottom line. In a survey conducted late 2020, the Northern Colorado Economic Development Initiative found that 48% of northern Colorado businesses said their annual headcounts were down. More than two-thirds of businesses said annual sales were down.

Fortunately, holiday shopping, as well as business community efforts to encourage supporting local businesses and partnerships, helped give many a boost.

“Last year, I really feel like people came out and supported small business, so I’m kind of hoping for more of the same — just for more local love,” said Emilie Casseday, owner of Blush Boutique, 805 8th St., Suite 100. “We just kind of rallied around each other last year, so I’m just praying for more of that.”

About 63% of small business owners surveyed expect a bigger holiday shopping season than last year, according to American Express.

Jaime Henning, president and CEO of the Greeley Area Chamber of Commerce, said Greeley area businesses found innovative, resilient ways to work through the pandemic, but some challenges, such as workforce issues, remain.

“The pandemic year was a tougher year, so I think there is a lot of optimism now,” Henning said. “I think for businesses, they’re hopeful that this will be a more lucrative Christmas for them. … Even though we’re all still working through some of the impacts of those things, I think they are hopeful that it’ll be a stronger one.”

A lot of business owners count on the holiday weekends to help set the pace for the year, Henning added. About 78% of small business owners said holiday sales will impact their ability to keep their doors open in 2022, according to the American Express Shop Small Impact survey.

Shoppers Dave and Ginger Walcker, Greeley residents since 2004, took part in the Holiday Open House event on Saturday as they have many years before. While they enjoyed seeing some familiar faces at long-established businesses in downtown, they also mourned the loss of businesses that aren’t around anymore.

“It’s always discouraging to see the changeover from year to year,” Dave said.

“Every year, it seems like there’s ones that are gone,” Ginger said.

Though online and national retailers can offer a convenient way to buy gifts, such spending isn’t as impactful to shoppers’ local communities. Henning said if people could shift even just 5% of their purchases to local businesses, it would make a tremendous impact.

“The chamber represents over 700 businesses in the Greeley area, and we really encourage people to do this every single day of the year,” Henning said. “But at the holidays, (it’s) even more important because it really is a big chunk of how small businesses pace themselves throughout the year.”

As Greeley residents of more than 40 years, shoppers Jeff and Jennifer Davis reflected Saturday on the evolution of downtown over the years.

“We saw the demise of the downtown. All the big stores used to be down here,” Jeff said. “Then it dried up, went to the mall. Now, it’s good that the last 15 years, it’s come back.”

Jeff credited downtown leaders like Pam Bricker for their efforts in revitalizing the area. Jennifer said they appreciative of the friendly atmosphere and unique character of the local stores.

Dave and Ginger shared a similar view.

“I think it’s important to support brick-and-mortar stores. It’s people’s livelihoods,” Dave said. “People tend to shop online an awful lot and miss a lot of opportunities to help people locally. We’d much rather do that than shop online.”

Brian Seifried, owner of Wing Shack and Sexy Sammies and co-owner of Luna’s Tacos & Tequila, said he’s feeling optimistic this year, especially about the local community. Local spending is important to rebuilding the local economy, he said, and Greeley has largely shown up and done that.

“We still offer a little bit cheaper cost of living compared to some of our surrounding communities. And with all of the new things coming in, there’s more culture. There’s more to do,” he said. “If you just look at downtown, just the last couple years, you’re not just eating, but you can go ax throwing, and there’s a couple new retail spots, and the library is making their big LINC investment.”

Bianca Fisher, executive director of the Greeley Downtown Development Authority, said she’s mostly heard excitement for the holiday season from local business owners.

“I think the opportunity that small businesses have here is that local component — the opportunity for people to give unique gifts and things that are truly local,” Fisher said.