Alexandria Businesses Say Ho, Ho, Ho All the Way to the Bank

Photo by Jila Shams/Two Hand Design Carol Supplee of Imagine Artwear enjoys the snowfall in Old Town.

ALEXANDRIA, VA. -  Many business owners held their breaths as December approached, wondering what the shopping season would bring.  
 
Last week, Local Kicks spoke to several business owners and small business advocates to get a read on how the season went during the severe recession.
 
Tara Zimnick-Calico, the president of the Old Town Business and Professional Association, said that Alexandria is "as close as you can get to a recession-proof area."
 

Photo by Jila Shams/Two Hand Design Victor Dash in front of his clothing shop on King Street on what he said was actually a fairly busy retail day before Christmas.

"We have a lot of support from the Alexandria Convention and Visitors Association, the Chamber of Commerce, and the small Business Development Council," she added. "Right now we are seeing a lot of closed store fronts, though, and it does indicate a sign of recession in our city.”

Even so, Bill Reagan, the president of the Small Business Development Center, said that numerous small business owners reported that business was "booming" even during the big snow storm dumped on the city the last weekend before Christmas.
 
"Shoppers were able to get in by Monday after the Saturday storm and shops reported busy times the days before Christmas, including in Old Town," he said.  "I heard several anecdotal repots that many businesses saw good customer traffic, and reported being quite busy...So far I am hearing encouraging words."

Carol Supplee of Imagine Artwear in the 1100 block of King Street offered her opinion to Local Kicks: “Everything was just fine until the snow storm," she said.  "It was a terrible blow and a hurt a lot of people in business, and it’s really too bad, the city was ready for shoppers, looking beautiful with lights and garlands along King Street. We just can’t get back the business we lost that Saturday and Sunday, but until that point it was fine."

Fay Carter of The Christmas Attic said the shop had a "wonderful"season, business-wise. "I think people saved up for it," Carter said. "We had a lot of traffic and a positive response to our shop.  But, the snow storm really took the wind out of our sails.  We were gangbusters until then.  We lost customers to the malls at that point.  Even so, we had a really good month.  Without the snow we would have had a truly excellent month and even now after the holiday despite the cold people are still shopping.”

Elizabeth Todd of the Shoe Hive said the boutique shoe shop had a better Christmas season in 2009 than 2010. "We had one of the best weeks between Christmas and New Year's that we've ever had," she said. "We believe that our continued commitment to marketing and our consistent service over the years is helping us weather what has been a tough economy.”

With a continuing strong and optimistic attitude, Alexandria business owners continue to weather both economic and natural storms, while shoppers apparently kept coming.
 
Email the writer at kirstenobadal@hotmail.com.