Kamelah Adams’ T-shirt and apparel line promoting social justice causes, Mimi’s Fresh Tees, drew in a lot of sales during the national racial justice movement in 2020 and 2021.
This year has been tougher, she said.
“I’m trying to stay optimistic because I do know that it’s kind of difficult now with inflation and rising costs for a lot of people,” she said. “And that’s why I want to make sure that I have the right range of prices. Everything is already priced pretty reasonably here.”
Small businesses in the Portland area are gearing up for another holiday season in the COVID-19 era, this time with inflation and recession concerns at the forefront of consumers’ minds.
Much is riding on this traditionally busy time of year for retailers, who are looking to reach customers while they’re still in a spending mood — and before a possible economic downturn, even a mild one, shuts their wallets.
Adams recently moved her shop from Old Town to a storefront in downtown Portland, near Southwest 10th Avenue and Morrison Street, where she has invited some other women-owned companies to show and sell their wares. The “holiday pop-up collective” will feature guest items including Essance Skincare, Crystal Ball Botanicals, and Vietnamese sauces from Tân Tân in Beaverton.
“We really wanted to support other women-owned businesses with a keen focus on BIPOC women-owned businesses, because several of them don’t have a retail space,” Adams said. “It’s important, especially around the holiday time and in general, for women to have a permanent place to sell their goods. Because that’s true equality.”
To entice shoppers, Adams will be hosting Black Friday and Small Business Saturday deals.
The city of Portland is pitching in, too, handing out publicly funded $150,000 worth of gift cards, redeemable at participating central city businesses like Mimi’s Fresh Tees, at the Pioneer Courthouse Square tree lighting on Nov. 25.
But after two relatively strong holiday shopping seasons, spending this year could be more muted. According to Julie Bryan, a retail analyst based in Lake Oswego, a strong labor market, rising wages, and government stimulus gave consumers more discretionary income to spend on holiday gifts last year.
To prepare for this holiday season, Bryan said many retailers have ordered inventory earlier to avoid the supply-chain snags that they experienced the past two holiday seasons.
Many businesses, she said, are also trying to get an early start on sales by offering deals earlier than Black Friday.
“Every retailer wants to get as much of their share of the consumer wallet as they can,” Bryan said. “And this year many businesses are expecting to see more people shopping in person, and we’re already seeing that. People are out buying and shopping.”
Deena Spang, who manages The Arrangement in Northeast Portland, said the clothing and home goods store has weathered through supply chain issues and labor shortages in the last two years. But this year, she said the supply chain issues haven’t been as bad, and there’s more people on staff.
Spang said holiday sales account for a large proportion of the store’s annual revenue, making it a critical time for the business.
Deena Spang, manager and buyer at The Arrangement on Northeast Fremont Street, adjusts ornaments and decor on a tree on Nov. 15, 2022.Kristine de Leon
“We usually start planning for the holiday season in January and start securing orders early in the year,” she said. “And we put in a lot of effort looking for new things that we think customers will want. In other words, we always try to keep our inventory fresh and offer new surprises so that people will want to keep coming back.”
During the pandemic, she said the store launched an online site to stay afloat but, this year, they’re banking on more in-person sales.
“It’s been an interesting couple of years to say the least. I think the thing about Portland that made us survive and get through it is that shop-local mentality,” Spang said. “I think the community really tries to support local businesses, and so I’m feeling pretty confident about this holiday … and I think more people are shopping in person.”
Some analysts expect shoppers to continue spending freely this holiday season despite inflation eating into their disposable income and predictions of a looming recession.
“We expect year-end spending will be a last hurrah for households,” said Shannon Seery, a Wells Fargo economist based in New York. “They have some room to continue to spend in the near term, but it’s not sustainable.”
In a holiday spending report, Wells Fargo says U.S. households’ cash reserves, built up during the previous two years, have begun to decline, “a sign that could indicate consumer staying power is starting to wane.”
“We are gradually seeing households pull back on goods, purchases. It’s been a bit slower than we even anticipated,” Seery said. “But essentially, households will continue to spend throughout the holidays. It’s really the most normal holiday season they’ve had in three years.”
Hannah Price, who runs The Union, the retail space for her family’s business, Dana Herbert Accessories on Northeast Broadway Street, is shown at her shop on Nov. 15, 2022.Kristine de Leon
For Hannah Price, who runs The Union, the retail space for her family’s business, Dana Herbert Accessories on Northeast Broadway Street, the return to normal this year has brought more foot traffic to her shop.
“We had the luxury of pivoting to making face masks when the pandemic hit,” she said of the family business. “We didn’t have the store open at all. We did all of our retail online.”
Price said the retail store reopened this year and has since seen a rapid shift toward in-store sales.
The family business is also bringing back its annual holiday sample sale. Every year since 1998, the family had rented a ballroom and tennis courts at the Irvington Club for its one-day holiday sale — until the pandemic forced a two-year hiatus.
“It’s something we’ve been doing for a long time right before Christmas,” Price said. “It’s usually our busiest day of sales … so we’re excited to go back to that.”
— Kristine de Leon; [email protected]
Correction: This post has been modified to correct the location of Mimi’s Fresh Tees to Southwest Morrison Street.
