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By Liz Boardman/Independent Staff Writer
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| Diane Powers, an honorary member of the Arbutus Garden Club, and Joe Iacoi, executive director of the South Kingstown Chamber of Commerce, put the finishing touches on one of the large wreaths that will decorate downtown Wakefield and Peace Dale this holiday season. The wreaths will be hung by Rick Holland of Holland Electric. The club, founded in 1947, gathers each year at the Westmoreland Regional Sewage Treatment Facility in Narragansett to prepare the wreaths for the decorating program sponsored by the Chamber. (Photo by Selena Millard) |
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As Black Friday approaches, local storeowners are stocking shelves with locally produced gifts and lower cost items for the holiday shopping season.
“This is the time of year to support local businesses,” said Joe Iacoi, the executive director of the South Kingstown Chamber of Commerce. “We need to keep the local economy going.”
To attract shoppers in a difficult economy, villages and shops are hosting special events. The stores on Main and Robinson streets in Wakefield will be open late for the annual Ladies’ Night and Luminary Stroll on Thursday, Dec. 3, and some will stay open later on the third Thursday of the month, as part of a campaign begun a few months ago.
South Kingstown Chamber of Commerce members Wallace Tree Service and Holland Electric will be hanging wreaths and decorating Main Street, said Iacoi, and he encourages businesses and homes to participate in the Chamber’s new online holiday decorating contest, where people can upload photos of their decorations to the chamber Web site.
The South Kingstown Chamber also is offering gift certificates that can be used at member businesses.
Pier Marketplace Merchants will hold a day of luminaries, special sales and window decorating on Dec. 6, supporting Narragansett’s Festival of Lights from noon to 6 p.m., said Deb Kelso, executive director of the Narragansett Chamber of Commerce.
Santa makes several trips to the area to kick off the season, including an arrival by helicopter at the Wakefield Mall on Friday at 11 a.m. and by horse-drawn carriage to South County Commons on Dec. 5.
And in Peace Dale, Peace Dale Neighborhood Revitaliation will hold its annual winter fire and tree lighting on Dec. 12 at 5:30 p.m., at the Peace Dale rotary, with holiday carols, a visit from Santa Claus, horse-and-wagon rides and a bonfire.
Midtown Café at 333 Main St., Wakefield, will offer evenings of dinner theater with a production of “Gift of the Magi,” a play based on the O. Henry short story, presented by the Contemporary Theatre Company. The show will run three weekends in December, and the ticket price includes appetizer, dinner and dessert. Performances on Dec. 5 and Dec. 11 have already sold out, said Midtown Café owner Robin McGuigan.
The menu will include a salad of goat cheese, butternut squash, beets and greens, with an orange vinaigrette, wild boar sausage and mashed potato, and fish pie.
“We will have appetizers and entrees before the first act, and dessert at intermission, and the whole thing will be over by 8:30 p.m.,” McGuigan said. “It is really exciting.”
Campany & Thornton, a jewelry store in South County Commons, plans two off-site jewelry shows. On Dec. 3, the store will be at Celestial Café, 567 South County Trail, No. 101, in Exeter, and on Dec. 10, at Gallery of Treasures, 355 Main St., Wakefield.
Local goods stocked
Whether they sell local art, fair trade goods or custom-made jewelry, businesses are responding to a growing demand for a local, sustainable economy.
“My customers like to support local artists,” said Tina Giammarco, owner of Most Naturally at 24A Pier Marketplace in Narragansett. “They know we live in the community and have stores in the community, so they more and more want to support locally owned.”
Laura Winward, owner of Waves of Creation at 330 Main St., Wakefield, said her customers appreciate local, handmade items, because the work can be customized.
“We can have a necklace shortened, or have a bracelet made bigger,” Winward said. “We can make 20 sugar scrubs in particular scents to give out to your clients.”
Fair trade items are also increasingly popular, they said.
“Money is tight for some people, so they want local or fair trade, so they know the money is going someplace, and helping someone,” Giammarco said.
Giammarco spent October in South Africa, visiting one of her fair trade suppliers, Thanda Zulu, which offers South African women a way to make a living and supports an after-school program for African children with AIDS.
“It was so nice to see it in action, and see where the money goes,” Giammarco said. “It makes a big difference.”
As Black Friday marks the beginning of the holiday shopping season, retailers were adjusting their stock, focusing on more affordable choices.
“We changed focus a bit this year, offering many gifts $25 or less,” said Lyn Blecharczyk, owner of Psychic Kitty in South County Commons. “We wanted to broaden out.”
So in addition to items that are “dog-gone fun and cat-ivating toys,” they are stocking items for horse lovers, as well as perfume, essential oils and votive candles for their owners.
“It is hard to find dog and cat items across the spectrum,” Blecharczyk said. “New lines aren’t coming out, so we are adding more with horses and for women. It is a challenge, we don’t know what to expect.”
Winward said Waves of Creation also is stocking differently this year.
“We are trying to concentrate on a bit lower of a price point than we have previously,” Winward said. “But we are trying to bring in more things that are a bit more gifty and personal.”
Calvin Campany, co-owner of Campany & Thornton, said the jewelry store also is making adjustments.
“It is our fourth Christmas, and being new to the community, we had to learn the taste of South County,” Campany said.
The store is stocking simpler, more elegant items, Campany said. “More architectural designs, and gold or silver without stones, or with simply cut gems.”
This year, he is adding a “living catalog” – pieces of jewelry customers can try on and then have made to order.
“It has the benefits of custom design, but they are able to try on a living representative of it,” Campany said.
Once they pick a style, customers choose the metal and stones that suit their tastes.
Winward also is going personal – offering customers a chance to book a personal shopping party, where groups of six or more can shop the store after hours, while snacking on refreshments and perhaps making ornaments or sugar scrub.
“We did this last year with great success,” Winward said.
Some stores were planning to extend hours, though that was not widespread. Waves of Creation will be open in the evenings on Thursdays and Fridays through Christmas. Campany & Thornton will be open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., seven days a week between Black Friday and Christmas Eve. |
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