Local businesses incentivize shopping small this season

Last year, Tompkins Weekly covered the importance of shopping local for the holiday season and beyond (see t.ly/pGjV), and one year later, it’s just as important to help small businesses across the county cope with challenges both new and old.

Thanks in large part to the high vaccination rates across the county, many of the struggles related to health and safety at local businesses have lessened, but other difficulties persist, like supply chain problems and workforce shortages, which many businesses cited as concerns over the summer (see t.ly/Ikw8 and t.ly/zJi9).

At Quilters Corner in Ithaca (e-quilterscorner.com), for example, owners Linda VanNederynen and Cyndi Slothower said that while much of their foot traffic has returned in recent months, they’re still facing significant challenges related to supplies.

“That supply chain goes all the way back to the different companies, they’re manufacturing overseas,” VanNederynen said. “The computer chips and the technology for manufacturing of the sewing machines themselves, it all trickles down. And we face some of the same things that other retail businesses are facing with that backlog in the ports in LA and Florida and such, so our machines are there, but we can’t get them yet.”

VanNederynen added that those supply hold-ups also make it hard to budget properly, as there can be big gaps between when items are selected, paid for and delivered, often several months.

Jan Rhodes Norman, owner of Ithacamade in the DeWitt Mall (facebook.com/ithacamade), sells clothing from her brand, Silk Oak (silkoak.com), and many other locally made products in her store. But even though Ithacamade is mostly locally sourced, it’s still facing similar supply issues to what Quilters Corner described.

“For Silk Oak, I buy things to print on that are made in the U.S., sweatshop free, but some of the companies that I buy from get their fabric from another country or get their thread that they milled their own fabric from another country, or the dyes that I print with have components that come from other countries,” she said. “So, all of a sudden, you find yourself not able to get a black dye because one component of black is not available.”

Rhodes Norman is also one of the co-founders of Local First Ithaca, “a network of locally owned businesses and services, farmers, community members and nonprofits,” according to the Downtown Ithaca Alliance’s (DIA) website, downtownithaca.com/jannormanithacamade. Her Local First work has shown her that many businesses still struggle to find staff, which can affect a business’s service hours and offerings, she said.

And businesses are still navigating health precautions as more guidance gets released. Many businesses, like Ithaca Guitar Works, still have a mask requirement and capacity restrictions.

“At this point, it’s just become a nuisance,” said Ithaca Guitar Works (guitarworks.com) owner Chris Broadwell. “We’ve got a little tea cart in front of our door with signage explaining the situation — ‘Yes, we’re open. Please ask for help’ — [and] another sign that says, ‘continue to wear masks.’ We never didn’t wear masks. When the state lifted that mandate, we continued to insist people wore masks, and we wore masks. I have grandchildren, I have relatives that are compromised. Even after getting my vaccinations, we’re just going to keep wearing them until all is clear.”

While some businesses continue to grapple with these and other hurdles, others are faring considerably well. Easy Living Hats in Ithaca (easylivinghats.com), for example, has seen a significant boost in sales over the past year and a half, said owner Olivia Ashline-Royale.

Prior to the pandemic, Easy Living Hats’ revenue largely came from Ashline-Royale’s booth at the Ithaca Farmers Market, though she did have an online store. But when the pandemic hit, Easy Living Hats saw an almost immediate spike in sales, which Ashline-Royal said was likely due to consumers spending more time at home with hobbies well suited to her products like gardening.

“From that growth, we spent the time during COVID teaching people how to make the product, expanding into a bigger workspace in town,” she said. “Because I already had a website in place, … I was set up to be able to still thrive through the pandemic. I wasn’t dependent on local events or in-person sales to keep the business going.”

It’s a similar story at Handwork Cooperative in Ithaca (handwork.coop). Jill Hoffman, Handwork marketing and events coordinator, said that Handwork “really took that time [last year] to look critically at what we could do during that time, kind of pivot and allow people to still shop with us.” This included creating Handwork’s first online store, which was no easy feat with so many artists having numerous works to sell.

“We learned a lot through that process,” she said. “So now, customers can shop online. We offer local pickup. We obviously ship. But we can also offer virtual shopping through email because not everything’s available online. So, when people go online, they can see a modest selection of what’s available in store. But if they’re looking for more, what they want to do is give us a call, email us. We can set up communications and see what’s on our shelves.”

And one of Handwork’s artists, Charlotte Walsh, who sells mostly handmade jewelry under her brand Compliments Fly, said that she and other Handwork artists thoroughly appreciate management’s efforts.

“I feel really fortunate that Handwork weathered COVID as well as it did,” she said. “Certainly, there was a shift in the amount of business that the store did and then I did as well. But the folks who work here, the managers, were so proactive in getting a presence online that we were able to hold on to most of the members. And I think no one in the store suffered more than folks in other settings. I think we did pretty well.”

Local leaders touched on why buying local is so important this and every year. Jennifer Tavares, president of the Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce (tompkinschamber.org), said that shopping local keeps the county’s business sector thriving and vibrant.

“We want to drive around and walk around and see filled storefronts,” she said. “We want to see cool businesses. We want people to be able to come here and experience interesting offerings in our community. And a way to help make sure that that continues to happen is for us ourselves to invest our hard-earned dollars into those businesses.”

And it’s not just the business sector that sees the benefit, as Rhodes Norman explained.

“It’s kind of like plugging holes in a bucket,” she said. “The more you shop local, the less holes there are for our wealth to just spread out into other places. … The sales tax is another thing. Businesses that are rooted locally, those purchases are generating sales tax, and that sales tax comes back to fund our schools, our fire departments, our police departments, … and schools and roads.”

Darlene Wilber, DIA communications and grants development director, added that shopping local offers a more intimate experience compared to online or big box stores.

“The products that are sold here, a lot of them are locally produced or locally sourced, so you’re getting something that may be made by a highly skilled artisan from any community — a friend, a neighbor, a loved one, somebody you know,” she said. “The staff at these places, a lot of them, the shop owners are also the employees, so they know their products inside and out, and so does their team. So, it’s really good when you’re going in, if you have a question, there’s someone right there who knows, is very knowledgeable and can help you find the perfect gift.”

Plus, as Slothower described, shopping local helps to sidestep many of the supply chain issues that big chains are facing.

“Keeping money in our community is a really big deal,” she said. “And when people talk about supply chain issues, I think if you walk into a small business, there’s going to be a lot of lovely things there that you can pick up right now — you don’t have to wait. We may not have some particular thing, but we sure have a lot of other particular things.”

There’s a lot for residents to look forward to this and next month, as businesses and the organizations that support them have introduced a variety of offerings to promote shopping local. One of the biggest of these efforts is Shop Small Weekend, a campaign led by the DIA to promote shopping local Nov. 26 through 29, the Friday through Monday after Thanksgiving.

During Shop Small Weekend, businesses throughout Ithaca will be giving away custom-designed Shop Local reusable canvas bags with purchase, with some businesses offering special deals and activities. Easy Living Hats, for example, is having a 50%-off sale on Small Business Saturday, hosting products and art by 10 small businesses.

In addition, the Downtown Visitor Center in Ithaca will be offering complimentary gift wrapping for items purchased from downtown shops starting Nov. 29 and through the end of the holiday season.

Several businesses are participating in various charity drives over the course of the holiday shopping season. Alphabet Soup, Your CBD Store and Cat’s Pajamas, for example, are all accepting toy donations for Cops, Kids and Toys. Your CBD Store is also collecting nonperishables for the Food Bank of the Southern Tier.

Many Ithaca businesses, like Ithaca Guitar Works, are participating in another DIA-led effort starting in December — being open later on Thursdays as well as the usual expanded hours Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. And from Dec. 3 through 11, there will be many events throughout Ithaca as part of the DIA’s Winter Light Festival (visit downtownithaca.com/winterlights for a full list of events).

And finally, Local First Ithaca is currently working on the newest edition of its annual “The Guide to Being Local,” a comprehensive book filled with coupons and information about businesses throughout the region. Rhodes Norman said that she expects the 2022 edition to come out within the next couple of weeks.

Visit Ithaca Guitar Works and Ithacamade in the DeWitt Mall at 215 N. Cayuga St., Easy Living Hats at 1201 N. Tioga St., Quilters Corner at 518 W. State St. and Handwork Cooperative at 102 W. State St., all in Ithaca. Visit their websites listed previously for a full list of hours and offerings.

Jessica Wickham is the managing editor of Tompkins Weekly. Submit story ideas to them at editorial@vizellamedia.com.