Catherine Carter, owner at The Dog-Eared Page Bookshop on Main Street, has a plethora of activities and gift packages for patrons to celebrate the season.
The day after Thanksgiving cranked up the holiday shopping season, with some River District retailers offering specials and events to entice customers to their stores through Christmas.
They include a Blind Date with a Book at the North Pole happening Dec. 7, in which customers can purchase a book already wrapped up with a short blurb giving clues on what to expect. The title remains a mystery until the book is unwrapped.
There is also a variety of Christmas gift boxes offered containing a book — or a Dog-Eared Page gift card — along with items including a bookmark, loose-leaf Christmas-flavored tea, socks and candy.
Though Black Friday is the official start of the holiday shopping season, Carter said she had already seen an increase in customer volume earlier in November — more than a week before Thanksgiving.
“We are starting to see an uptick, especially this week and last week,” she said during an interview at her business Friday afternoon. “A third of our sales for the year happen from now through the end of December. The pressure is on.”
In addition, the bookstore’s attached Dog-Eared Page Teahouse, which ceased regular hours in August due to its cost, will be revived and opened 4 to 7 p.m. every Wednesday and Thursday in December, as well as 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. every Saturday except Dec. 14, Carter said.
The teahouse will also be open for the Riverview Rotary Christmas Parade that starts at 5 p.m. Dec. 8.
In addition, Carter is promoting what she plans to be a momentous event in March, the Equinox Fantasy Ball. The gala will take place March 22, with tickets going on sale in December, she said.
Tickets will be $175 and the festivities will include a hair-braiding station, temporary tattoo station, a DJ, dancing, food, waltz lessons, special guests including professional actors, a merchant market and other offerings, Carter said.
Carter is not the only downtown business owner bringing fun options for customers.
Cheryl Sutherland, owner at Main Street Art Collective, is temporarily adding shopping space at her store with Christmas vendor markets from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Dec. 14 and Dec. 21 in the back of her shop.
That has been a tradition for her six-year-old establishment over the last five years, she said.
“That’s been a good success,” Sutherland said.
During the rest of the year, the rear area of her store is used for art workshops and other activities.
To give shoppers added time to pick up gifts at her store, she is expanding her Friday hours for the month of December, which will be from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Like Carter, Sutherland has seen an increase in customer traffic since the week of Thanksgiving.
During the holidays and the rest of the year, she sees many customers from outside Danville.
“We have a lot of out-of-towners who come in during the week and on weekends,” she said.
At The Vintage Boutique clothing store on North Union Street, owner Roslyn Preston has a busy schedule for the month of December.
“We are having weekly specials throughout the month, including buy two items, get one free,” Preston said.
Also, she will offer punch-card savings, daily discounts, and weekly giveaways for the first customer to walk into the boutique, she said.
“We are also hosting Game Night and a Holiday Celebration Customer Appreciation Night throughout the month,” Preston said.
Over at Moss Mountain Outfitters on Main Street, Susan Moss and her son Landon Moss stressed the importance of shopping local.
“It supports the whole economy,” Susan Moss said. “It supports everything here in Danville.”
The city’s loss of tobacco and textiles has left a bigger role for local stores to play in Danville’s economy, Susan Moss said.
“Small business runs this town,” she said. “It’s the engine of Danville.”
The Mosses plan on having periodic sales at their store during the month of December.
One of the hottest-selling items at their store has been Head Up Eyes Forward T-shirts. The shirts are in memory of the loss of Susan’s son Ryan Moss in a hiking incident in Colorado in 2016. She and Landon started the brand, with profits from its sales going toward local charities.
“That message resonates with them [customers],” she said. “It’s a message of hope and healing.”
One customer at Moss Mountain Outfitters, Pam Tucker, recently moved back to her hometown of Danville from Cincinnati, Ohio. She was buying gifts including wool socks and a T-shirt.
“I just like to support local businesses more so than the big-box stores,” Tucker said. “I’d much rather spend my dollars helping a family rather than a corporation.”
At The Happy Little Fox Toy Shop on Lynn Street, owner Amy Pruitt offered discounts on several items — just like other businesses in this article.
Black Friday happened to be the one-year anniversary for her business.
“And what a year,” Pruitt said. “I have met the most incredible people and that’s why I do this.”
She had a slow summer, which she believes was due to it being a presidential election year. But business skyrocketed the week after the election, she said.
“A week after the election, I had the best week since March,” Pruitt said.
Carter, at her bookshop, said she has also seen a similar pattern, regardless of the presidential candidates and customers’ views.
“It doesn’t matter which way they lean [politically],” Carter said.
However, the pattern could be a coincidence, since elections fall just before the holiday shopping season, anyway, she added.
“I can’t say there’s a direct correlation,” Carter said.
Also contributing to lagging summer sales was more people traveling on vacation, bouncing back from the pandemic, Pruitt said.
“It was just tough,” she said, adding that sales have been more stable during November.
“This month has been better than the summer,” Pruitt said. “There’s an upward trend.”
As for expanded options at her store, she will now offer aerosports items including disc golf, boomerangs, kites and frisbees. She received a $5,000 Get Boosted grant from the River District Association to include those products at her store.