Shopping in store

Deverney McLean Shopping of Faith Endures by Dev is one of vendors at Black In Business Holiday Market on December 3. Photo by: Illuminatus Studios

by Michael J. DeCicco

The retail shops in downtown New Bedford are ready for the Holiday shopping season. Large and small, they are all sprucing up their inventory as they note they are optimistic that customer levels, as usual, will climb between now and the close of the season.

Large and small, they are all sprucing up their inventory as they note they are optimistic that customer levels, as usual, will climb between now and the close of the season.

"I've seen sales increase up to 30 percent in my own business during the month of December," said Elissa Paquette, owner of Calico women's clothing boutique shop, 173 Union Street, and Downtown New Bedford, Inc. president. "Business is always up this time of year."

The seasonal shopping spree, she said, starts in early December when over 1,000 people attend the Downtown New Bedford Holiday Stroll that most of downtown's businesses and venues participate in – an annual tradition for well over 20 years.

But it's always just the start of an always busy Christmas shopping season, she noted. She said her shop is now building up its inventory for the season. That means more of the "gifty" items that sell well at this time of year, such as sweaters, jewelry, and winter wear.

She brings out the holiday decorations in mid-November, she said. But what each downtown business does as far as decorating for the season and when they start decorating is up to them, "because every business is it's own business."

Pamela Arruda, owner of the "Bejeweled" fun and fine jewelry store, 26 Centre Street, shopbejeweledonline.com, echoes similar sentiments and statistics for her own store. "On average, between Thanksgiving and Christmas, we see triple our average number of customers," she said, "with the bulk of our sales coming just ten days prior to Christmas."

How does she prepare for the Christmas rush? What does she do differently this time of year? "We bulk up on our inventory with an aim of offering a wide variety of both styles and price points," she said. "Our hope is that someone can rush in and find something that appeals to them right away, whether that be a small stocking stuffer, office gift, or more significant designer piece."

Additionally, she said, she keeps a "wishlist" on file of pieces that her customers love in order to make buying a gift for someone easy and stress free. "A lot of our male customers find this especially helpful, especially when we gift wrap as well," she said. "We have a website on which we offer either free shipping or curbside pickup. In store, we enjoy creating a festive atmosphere with holiday music and chocolate treats to keep you going when you're running on empty."

Classic delights

Katherine Lowe, owner of the clean beauty and modern wellness boutique shop Shimmer at 187 Union Street, (shopshimmerbeauty.com), is also preparing for more customer traffic this time of year.

The good news, she said, is that Small Business Saturday and the Holiday Stroll alone have the potential to triple business from an average Saturday. In general, she admitted, retailers downtown rely on the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas as their busiest time of the year.

But that is why she is optimistic this season will be a good one for downtown. "I plan on almost entirely resetting my shop before the season kicks in," she said. "I always create a window display with bright lights that catch the eye at night, but this year I'll also be setting up a new layout in the shop. I am very fortunate to have a loyal customer base throughout the year, so I'm launching an entirely new holiday collection all at once to give them fresh options before the busiest time of the year."

Yet as someone who has lengthy experience working downtown, she's realistic as well as optimistic about how busy downtown will be this year. "Although I have worked in retail in downtown New Bedford for 15 years," she said, "I opened Shimmer in April of 2019, so the shop has only experienced one holiday season pre-Covid. The past two holiday seasons downtown have been far from normal and we might expect this season to follow in kind."

Around the corner from her, the Whaling Museum's executive director Amanda McMullen's optimism is a bit more unbridled. She is preparing for what she expects will be an especially busy Holiday season at the museum this year.

McMullen said the museum's holiday season accounts for roughly 10 percent of its annual visitation count and is a big attraction every year. "The Museum's visitations have been incredibly busy this year deep into the fall season," she said. "We have bounced back from the pandemic challenges. We are currently sprinting towards an outstanding year – literally clipping at 2019's high visitation levels."

In addition to its new landscape show that just opened, it will be opening a new exhibition on December 12 on Polar Bears. She added that while the museum's current Campus Master Plan to expand the William Street property is still evolving, visitors this winter will be able to experience one change because of it. A completely renovated theater now equipped with full surround sound and 3D movies will soon start running daily showings, she said. (For details visit whalingmuseum.org).

Meanwhile, the Drawing Room's biggest change this season is that this will be its first Holiday season since moving from its previous location on North Water Street to the former Arthur Moniz Gallery on 22 William Street (shop. anthif.com).

"We moved to our new and larger location at 22 William Street earlier this year," owner Anthi Frangiadis said, "which gives shoppers more space to explore our collections. We often talk about giving the gift of art, so we put together a 'Wall of Smalls' at the holidays. It's a collection of smaller paintings for those who want to give a one-of-a-kind present without the pressure of picking a larger piece of art."

She said at this time of year she also likes to bring in new work from her existing gallery of artists as well as introduce work by new artists to keep the options fresh for both new and returning customers.

"We also stock our wine selection with options that pair perfectly with holiday festivities, whether it's the perfect bottle (or case!) of red for Thanksgiving dinner or Champagne-Method wine to celebrate the New Year."

Finally, Buy Black NB, a community platform dedicated to “discovery, highlighting, and promoting Blackowned businesses” in the South Coast, will be hosting a vendor market at the New Bedford Whaling museum on December 3 from noon until 5 p.m. The market will feature free performances, live music, children’s entertainment, and handmade goods from Black artists and business owners throughout the region. Learn more at BuyBlackNB.com.

Happy holidays!