City, downtown shops offer perks to draw holiday shoppers
With free parking and other perks, local businesses around New Mexico aim to draw shoppers
For small businesses in Santa Fe, the push to get local residents to buy from stores in their own community is a yearslong effort. Small Business Saturday was a promotional event began by American Express in 2010, and has grown into a national movement. But for Santa Fe merchants, it’s not just about a day or a week.
“For us, it’s our mission every day of the year,” said Simon Brackley, director of the Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce, adding that only locally owned businesses based in Santa Fe hire local workers and pay taxes to support services here.
For Santa Fe’s stores, it’s a chance to say that their one-of-a-kind products can’t be found at giant retailers such as Best Buy or on Amazon.
“A lot of people who come here, they want to touch, feel and smell products, so that helps Santa Fe, at least the specialty merchants downtown,” said Lisa Young, owner of Doodlet’s, 120 Don Gaspar Ave. The store has a unique line of novelties, toys, gifts and Santa Fe products.
“We get a lot of people looking for something authentic Santa Fe or Native American,” said Lisa Fagin, marketing manager at Malouf on the Plaza. She said the after-Thanksgiving weekend of shopping at the store was good for apparel items and Native American weavings.
One person who came downtown Saturday was Robert Andreotti, an attorney who is a member of the Santa Fe Downtown Merchants Association.
“I didn’t see masses of people, but I didn’t see a lot of empty parking spots, either,” he said.
He said the city has made it easier to use the parking meters by making it easier to buy time using credit cards. The minimum payment of a card used to be an hour; now shoppers can pay as little as 50 cents, which buys a half-hour of parking time, he said.
But there is still a lot of frustration about downtown parking for locals who want to come and shop, Young said.
“Overall, I think locals are dismayed at the parking issue,” she said. “I hear it all the time. That’s why they say they don’t come downtown.” (The parking rates for downtown spaces are currently $2 an hour for the first two hours.)
A group of merchants have teamed with the city of Santa Fe to help alleviate some of that frustration — specifically for those who want to shop downtown on the coming Saturdays.
Some 1,100 meters around downtown Santa Fe and Guadalupe Street will be hooded and provide free parking for two hours on the four Saturdays in December leading up to Christmas — Dec. 2, 9, 16, 23.
The effort was launched six years ago by Larry Keller, owner of Design Warehouse, who noticed there was very little activity in downtown in December as patrons flocked to the malls, where parking is free. Keller approached then-Mayor David Coss about a partnership where business owners kicked in some $5,000 for the parking spots in December to offset lost city revenue. The idea has picked up momentum, and this year, Keller said more than 55 merchants have each kicked in $100.
The amount doesn’t cover the entire cost to the city, which is estimated at $91,360 over the month, according to Noel Correia Parking Division director.
Still, Keller said many longtime Santa Fe residents won’t pay for parking and prefer on-street spaces to large concrete parking structures.
“When you live in this town, most people want to be able to pull up in front of a business and park,” Keller said. “We want a spot on the street, and we don’t want to pay.”
This holiday promotion is only valid at city meters, not parking lots.
The New Mexican newspaper also has opened its parking lot on Marcy Street, across the street from the main building entrance at 202 E. Marcy St., for free public parking on weekends through the holiday season.
Elsewhere in the state, the city of Rio Rancho is running a promotion where locals can present their library card at participating businesses for a 10 percent discount.
And in Carlsbad, the city’s MainStreet project sponsored food and other craft booths to get locals downtown on Saturday.
Karla Hamel, executive director of Carlsbad MainStreet, said the event was aimed at promoting small businesses and supporting the local economy. “The whole idea is to promote all of our local businesses,” she told the Carlsbad Current-Argus. “Those are the people you go to to sponsor everything.”
The New Mexico Tourism Department also is boosting its efforts to promote goods manufactured or grown in New Mexico through its True Certified digital holiday gift guide.
The New Mexico True Certified guide, available to view at NewMexico.org, features products 100 percent made in, grown in, or born and raised in New Mexico.
“I love buying New Mexico True Certified gifts for my friends and family around the country,” said Tourism Department Secretary Rebecca Latham, “and the digital gift guide makes it so easy to do without having to leave the comfort of home.”
The Tourism Department curated a list of nearly 60 New Mexico True Certified products for inclusion in this year’s digital holiday gift guide, including: Holiday Party Pack from Vivac Winery. Los Poblanos Travel Set (lavender mist, lavender salve, bath salt and candle).
New Mexico True Basket from Heart of the Desert (specialty pistachios, chocolates, candy and more).
“Walk In and Weave” at the Española Valley Fiber Arts Center.
Hand-thrown cups and more from Hanselmann Pottery.
Teca Tu Doggie Vestido Coat. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Contact Bruce Krasnow at brucek@sfnew mexican.com.