Nov. 24, 2024
Ask and sometimes the universe delivers.
I’d just walked into our lobby and had been thinking that I needed to decide on a downtown retailer to interview for an upcoming piece, when I spotted Julie Haagenson and Lana Olshove across the hall wrapping up lunch.
I had not seen them or stopped in their downtown store, JuLiana’s Boutique La Femme for awhile, which made it even more timely to arrange a call with them a few days later.
You might remember earlier this year I shared my concern about a noticeable drop in business activity I had noticed and heard about downtown, especially among small businesses.
When I began catching up with Haagenson and Olshove, who are marking their ninth holiday season this year, it was clear that had been a continued theme.
“This year has been probably the most challenging,” Haagenson said. “It has picked up some, so we’re confident. We’re hopeful. But we’re scared about Black Friday.”
Here’s why. It’s not just about hoping people make time to head downtown or to small businesses citywide, but that they hold room in their holiday budgets in the face of deep discounts.
I thought it was interesting to learn this week that 75 percent of Walmart’s recent market share gains in categories including grocery and general merchandise is estimated to come from households earning $100,000 or more.
If those consumers are being driven by value shopping, I understand why a small boutique retailer would be worried.
“Everybody wants a discount, and some people will come right out and ask you for one,” Haagenson told me.
But the scale and margins of a small local business are dramatically different than a big-box retailer. When these small businesses discount, on any level, they will feel it more acutely.
“Buying behavior is changing,” Olshove added. “We’re seeing more Amazon and more Wayfair, and I feel like part of it too is that people are busy … they may not have time to drive down to the boutique.”
All of that makes the ask I’m about to make of you even more of a lift, but I’m going to do it anyway.
If you’re reading this wondering to yourself where Haagenson and Olshove’s boutique is, stick with me.
It’s in the Harvester Building, just east of Phillips Avenue at 196 E. Sixth St. And it’s evolved since they opened as fashion itself has, with more of a focus on denim, less formality and new lines for the holidays including skincare and gift items.
It’s also not the most obvious destination for shopping, although I’m optimistic if they can stay the course they will soon get a bump from being in the thick of new development at The Steel District and Cherapa Place.
I’m not so worried about the retailers in the heart of downtown’s Phillips Avenue. You’ll be reminded of them and hopefully stop by as you’re in the area to see the décor downtown, visit the Washington Pavilion’s trees, see a holiday movie at the State Theatre or attend the Parade of Lights.
I’m asking you this holiday season, though, to not just support those local retailers that might be more obvious to you, but to seek out the ones that might be new to you.
This week, we ran a story in partnership with Downtown Sioux Falls Inc. that highlights many of those options.
We are so fortunate that retail activity downtown now extends from North Phillips Avenue inside the Cascade and the Steel District to as far east as almost Cliff Avenue and as far south as 14th Street.
There are businesses to be discovered at Cherapa Place, inside Jones421, at Nordic Hall and in the Johnson building at 225 E. 11th St. – just look for the Cattitude cat café and you’ll have found the right place.
These are the ones we especially need to make the effort to find and to support. And I would add that it doesn’t just end downtown, but in retail centers and sometimes under-the-radar locations across Sioux Falls and into our surrounding communities.
As you’re shopping for gifts, you’ll also find more small business owners who would love to sell you a coffee, a cookie, a meal or a memorable experience.
“We want to stay in business,” Haagenson told me. “And when people come in, we get reenergized.”
I know she speaks for so many others, and you should know too that these small businesses are not just sitting around hoping you will be moved to support them.
They are meeting with each other regularly, digging in to market in new ways and offering special reasons to come shop.
Several of them held a “Pink Friday” event this past Friday, which appeared to draw solid crowds.
JuLiana’s Boutique will host a red carpet-style holiday open house Dec. 12, which typically is their biggest day of the year.
“Events bring customers in,” Olshove said. “They just want to visit and they’re all becoming friends, so when we have an event that’s when sales go up.”
Don’t miss the key message there: Within their store, they’ve created a small community of like-minded shoppers who are help drive their business.
That’s not just a goal and a takeaway for other businesses but a reminder for all of us of the value that local independent retail brings to a broader community.
The headwinds are strong this year. There’s one fewer weekend between Thanksgiving and Christmas. We know our weather can be notoriously unpredictable. And we know that many of you are careful with your spending, as you should be.
But in a make-or-break time of year for small businesses, see what you can do to spread and stretch your budget a bit in their direction. Make the effort to shop somewhere new and return to an old favorite. If we all do a little more, it will add up.
With that in mind, please also mark your calendar for Dec. 7 inside the lower-level parking ramp in the original Cherapa Place office building from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. for the annual 605 Made Holiday Market.
It’s six hours of one-of-a-kind locally made shopping you won’t experience anywhere else. And it’s free, so stop by, stick around downtown before and after, and help make this a successful holiday season for the small business owners who make a big impact on our community.
New places, old favorites offer ways to shop local downtown this holiday season