Nov 21, 2013

Small Retailers Plan to Party Till They Profit to Lure Shoppers From Big Malls During HolidaysBy WashingtonPost.com

New York, NY – The parades and carnivals that draw people to downtown areas across the country this holiday season will be more than big celebrations. They’re part of a strategy to get shoppers into small stores.

LaGrange, Ill.’s decades-old holiday festival has evolved into more of a sales promotion event in recent years, says Nancy Cummings, executive director of the LaGrange Business Association. This year’s will be held Saturday, Dec. 7, and 66 businesses have so far signed up to take part.

Stores will have open houses, with many giving customers $5 off a $25 purchase. Trolleys will transport shoppers to shops that aren’t part of the downtown cluster, and on the way point out retailers along the route. There’ll be ice sculptures outside stores to lure shoppers to the front door. And there will be the holiday standards like a petting zoo and Santa arriving on a fire truck. Shoppers will have plenty to do across the village located west of Chicago.

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