People are starting to wrap up their holiday shopping. So what does it mean to be a small business? Kelly Van Dyke, who co-owns Eyre Home with her husband, said it means no customer is taken for granted. “Every person that walks through the door means so much and matters so much. And it makes a difference for our business and our family as well,” Van Dyke said.And after a rough hurricane season, inflation concerns and the lingering effect of the pandemic, some of Orlando’s Ivanhoe Row business owners said they’d welcome a boost.Nationally, the U.S. Department of Commerce reported a strong turnout from shoppers at the beginning of the holiday season. The department also reported a decrease in retail sales after Black Friday. Jeff Starkes, the owner of Maffrey’s Good Goods, said they haven’t seen a solid holiday turnout like this in years.”We weren’t really sure what a normal Christmas would look like for us. And so we’re seeing what a normal Christmas looks like. And it’s been great so far,” Starkes said.Van Dyke said big sales and online shopping draw consumers to the big box stores.Starkes said he has seen many shoppers looking for goods with a local connection or story behind the item. “It seems like a lot of people have a passion for small businesses and have really made it a priority to try and shop local, ” Van Dyke said.They saw that support after flooding from Hurricane Ian.”We have people say, ‘what do you need? Like, can we help?’ People still took the time to reach out to us. I think that just speaks to how special this row is,” Starkes said. The small business owners WESH spoke to said that’s the kind of strong support they’ve seen over the holidays.Even with the threat of a rough economic new year, they said that support will help.”A lot of people seem to have found us during the holiday season who are out shopping. And so I’m hoping that will prove to be a really good thing for us also,” Van Dyke said. Those store owners say the shopping tends to slow down in January, and is steady through the spring, but summer is the slowest period. So this really is game time for small businesses.
People are starting to wrap up their holiday shopping. So what does it mean to be a small business?
Kelly Van Dyke, who co-owns Eyre Home with her husband, said it means no customer is taken for granted.
“Every person that walks through the door means so much and matters so much. And it makes a difference for our business and our family as well,” Van Dyke said.
And after a rough hurricane season, inflation concerns and the lingering effect of the pandemic, some of Orlando’s Ivanhoe Row business owners said they’d welcome a boost.
Nationally, the U.S. Department of Commerce reported a strong turnout from shoppers at the beginning of the holiday season.
The department also reported a decrease in retail sales after Black Friday.
Jeff Starkes, the owner of Maffrey’s Good Goods, said they haven’t seen a solid holiday turnout like this in years.
“We weren’t really sure what a normal Christmas would look like for us. And so we’re seeing what a normal Christmas looks like. And it’s been great so far,” Starkes said.
Van Dyke said big sales and online shopping draw consumers to the big box stores.
Starkes said he has seen many shoppers looking for goods with a local connection or story behind the item.
“It seems like a lot of people have a passion for small businesses and have really made it a priority to try and shop local, ” Van Dyke said.
They saw that support after flooding from Hurricane Ian.
“We have people say, ‘what do you need? Like, can we help?’ People still took the time to reach out to us. I think that just speaks to how special this row is,” Starkes said.
The small business owners WESH spoke to said that’s the kind of strong support they’ve seen over the holidays.
Even with the threat of a rough economic new year, they said that support will help.
“A lot of people seem to have found us during the holiday season who are out shopping. And so I’m hoping that will prove to be a really good thing for us also,” Van Dyke said.
Those store owners say the shopping tends to slow down in January, and is steady through the spring, but summer is the slowest period. So this really is game time for small businesses.
