The Holiday season is always a busy time for stores, and a lot of small businesses will tell you those sales are important to their survival.
MARION, Ill. (WSIL)-- For small businesses, holiday sales are very important because for many, it鈥檚 the season they make the most money.
The holiday season is always a busy time for stores, and many small businesses will tell you those sales are important for their survival.
Lavish Bath Box located on Marion Square is in the middle of its 6th holiday season.
The store's owner Katie Fowler is getting ready for the City of Marion's Very Merry Market.
鈥淏ut bringing in that foot traffic and getting those eyes on our businesses really matter. And so the events that they put on up here, even if it blocks off parking, really makes a huge difference in our sales numbers and the number of people that we get to see and interact with that may not have known our business was here otherwise,鈥� Fowler said.
Fowler says her company is doing well this season and the holiday sales will go a long way.
鈥淭he sales that we make in our fourth quarter, which covers all of Christmas, is what carries us through until the next Christmas. So when the holiday sales are down, you know, that really affects how the next year is gonna go for us,鈥� Fowler said.
Fowler says the holiday season is very important for small businesses whether they are in their sixth season like her store or their first season like Bits and Pieces, Art and Antiques. Jennifer Colboth is the store's owner.聽
鈥淩ight now I'm working on sweatshirts and jackets and people can come in and they can wear my art,鈥� Colboth said.
Colboth says besides doing hand-cut collages on clothes, jewelry, and pictures, she also has an eye for antique pieces.
鈥淚 want them to see the artwork, I want them to come in and look at the antiques. And I hear stories all the time of my customers had,鈥� Colboth says 鈥淢y grandma had that, and they get, and I love to hear the stories.鈥�
Colboth鈥檚 store has been open for 3 months, and she hopes her business will keep thriving.
鈥淵ou see people buying maybe some of the more expensive items that they don't do on a day to day because they're thinking of a great Christmas present,鈥� Colboth said.
And like Fowler's business, Colboth also likes being involved in Marion's community events because it brings in more foot traffic.聽
