Downtown buzzes a little longer on the third Thursday of the month
This Thursday is the third of the month.
That means a group of 1218 downtown businesses will open its doors from 6-8 p.m. to allow Medicine Hatters some extended shopping hours.
“For May and June, and now July we’re having it so a group of participating businesses open a bit later on the third Thursday of everyone,” said Knibbs. “We do it this way because people are often going out to the Market at Medalta, so we figured Thursday was the best night to try and do something like this.”
Though he does not have any affiliation with a downtown business, Knibbs says he wanted to help drive more people to downtown businesses after moving back to the Hat.
“After I moved back to Medicine Hat from Vancouver I really still believed in the idea of doing a lot of your shopping downtown, rather than at a big shopping centre,” he said. “This event is a chance for people to explore downtown a little more, and maybe for some people to experience it for the first time.”
Of the 12-18 businesses, the majority are on Second Street, but Knibbs is encouraging people to make sure they check out Third and Fourth Street businesses as well.
“I think a lot of people start their walk around Station Street, but there are some really great businesses on Third and Fourth as well,” he said. “Our first Third Thursday was fairly slow, but June’s picked up considerably. I’m really hoping people continue to come out and check out some of the great places we have downtown.”
Knibbs says the businesses have been happy to participate.
“What we’ve heard from the businesses owners has been all positive,” he said. “We’ve been lucky with the weather and we really hope this is something that can keep growing.”
At the end of the day, supporting people in the community is important to Knibbs.
“I think there’s something special going on in downtown Medicine Hat and I want to help people see that,” he said. “There’s just so much at these stores that you can’t get at a bigger, chain store. We’re lucky to have so many great stores at our disposal.”