LAKE PLACID — Step into a local retail business the week before Christmas and you might find its owner donning a reindeer nose, a Santa hat, a necklace made out of string lights or an ugly sweater. Local retail business owners are in especially jolly spirits this holiday shopping season, despite continued staffing shortages and pandemic-related inflation, thanks to rising revenues and holiday happenings.
COVID-19 changed the landscape of local businesses. Hikers and visitors from across the state flooded the area in 2020 as a travel ban encouraged New Yorkers to visit destinations within their own state. While restaurants and gathering places closed temporarily in Lake Placid, retail stores stayed open and reaped the rewards of the increased visitor traffic.
Marc Galvin, a Lake Placid village trustee and co-owner of The Bookstore Plus on Main Street, reported 2020 as one of his best years in sales. Since then, he said, sales have increased.
But the pandemic also came with ever-increasing prices for retailers, supply chain bottlenecks and an intensified staffing crisis. That means that keeping hours, inventory and price levels stable has become a juggling act for some store owners, especially around the holiday season, when customers are variably looking for a good deal, buying higher-priced items or grabbing products in bulk.
With increased shopper traffic around the holidays, the demand for products — and different price points — has risen, according to local shop owners. But with inflation and supply chain issues, a product isn’t always guaranteed to arrive on time, which can make planning ahead hard.
Lily Doyle, who runs Pure Placid on Main Street with her mom, Marcy Miller, said that extended and fluctuating shipping times have sometimes left empty spots on her store’s shelves. Tim Robinson and Vanessa Scovell, the managers of Terry Robards Wine and Spirits on Saranac Avenue, said they had to start ordering champagne — a popular holiday beverage — months ahead of the holidays because there’s been a champagne shortage since the pandemic started.
Money is also on some shoppers’ minds as inflation rages on, and rising prices for businesses have had a domino effect on customers looking for a deal. Doyle said that along with more high-paying customers in recent years, she’s seen more customers who are referring to products based on their price point rather than their size — like asking for “the $15.95 lotion” instead of asking for “the 4-ounce lotion.” And while Doyle said Pure Placid tried to absorb the increased prices of products they ordered, they eventually had to raise their prices.
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Sales
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But despite the challenges, all the retailers interviewed for this story happily reported high traffic in their stores this holiday season. December is also the time when local shop owners start to get an idea of how their overall revenue for the year is looking. For some owners, it’s looking good.
Galvin said The Bookstore Plus experienced a revenue boom with the pandemic, which was surpassed by 2021 sales. This year, it looks like sales have topped the previous year. That’s not what Galvin expected; he thought sales would have gone back to pre-pandemic levels by now.
Robinson said that the pandemic-related real estate boom also brought higher-paying clientele who don’t mind dropping $80 on a bottle of cabernet sauvignon or hundreds of dollars on a case of champagne. The fortunate byproduct, Robinson said, is that “alcohol sales have skyrocketed” since the start of the pandemic, with December being one of his “craziest” sales months of the year. He said the last two weeks of the year are some of his busiest and most profitable days.
Retail store owners said stocking stuffer-sized items are some of the most in-demand products around the holidays. Doyle said people come to Pure Placid specifically asking for stocking stuffers. A lot of people go into Terry Robards looking for airplane-sized bottles of liquor, too, Robinson said.
Galvin said one of his top sellers this holiday season is a book series by popular TikTok author Colleen Hoover. He said that hardcovers are generally popular holiday buys, too.
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Local marketing
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Robinson credited the Lake Placid Holiday Village Stroll from Dec. 9 to 11 as driving crucial traffic into his store — he held a tasting on the Friday of the event, and he said the place was “packed” all night with shoppers and tasters. Robinson said it was the most successful tasting he’s had in a while.
Galvin, the recently reelected president of the Lake Placid Business Association, said those small business success stories are why the LPBA started the Village Stroll 14 years ago.
Galvin said local stores were always busy on Black Friday — the popular shopping day after Thanksgiving Day — but the first couple of weeks in December were usually “drier.” The Village Stroll — which typically takes place in the second weekend of December — was founded in 2008, amid the Great Recession, to fill out the shopping season. The three-day event includes a fire truck parade, photos with Santa, and, of course, local business promotions and deals.
Pure Placid, one of the top-level sponsors of this year’s Village Stroll, goes above and beyond to promote fellow businesses during the event. Pure Placid hosted a TikTok dance class, and Doyle said her mom started a tradition in 2017 of hiring someone to dress as “Buddy the Elf,” the character from the holiday movie “Elf,” and travel around to local businesses to promote them. Buddy has since partnered with and traveled around to local businesses each holiday shopping season to hype them up. Doyle said Buddy went to the Adirondack Popcorn Company this year; it’s a good way to spread “childlike wonder,” Christmas cheer and support other local businesses, Doyle said.
Galvin said that, overall, he’s heard that shopper traffic has been high at local businesses this holiday season. He thought the Can-Am hockey tournament was a major “driver” in recent shopping traffic.
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Staffing
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However, Galvin said he’s heard from local business owners that they’re still struggling with staffing through the holidays. Staffing has been a notorious, longtime struggle for local business owners, one that was exacerbated by the pandemic and rising real estate market prices.
Robinson, who’s volunteered as president and vice president for the LPBA in the past, is still involved in the Village Stroll; he was seen participating in the TikTok dance class at Pure Placid, decked out in a Christmas suit. But since he took over the liquor store in 2020, and as staffing levels got tighter, he hasn’t had as much time to devote to volunteering and organizing.
But while shop owners all mentioned staffing as a problem, they also noted that the staff they do have are valued and dedicated employees. Adirondack Chocolates co-owner Cortland Forrence said that while he could have used “an extra body” at Adirondack Chocolates — which has a location on Main Street in Lake Placid and state Route 86 in Wilmington — he’s got a “stable” crew that does a good job.
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Local support
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For many store owners, doing business around the holidays — and the rest of the year — isn’t all about the money they make. Robinson and Scovell said they enjoy their work because it’s about developing a relationship with the locals and visitors who come into their store. Robinson said that he could easily mark up the prices on some items, but he doesn’t want to — he and Scovell want to keep prices affordable to people in this community.
“We want people to come back,” Robinson said.
Having a local, repeat customer base is important to shop owners, and many businesses along Main Street show their appreciation by offering a local discount.
And local business owners say they’re staying open for the long haul — Robinson just signed another eight-year lease on Terry Robards at Placid Pond Plaza. And Forrence said that, with any luck, Adirondack Chocolates will be around for another 100 years.