Shoppers stayed local more often last year
Wherever you go, a smart person once said — or maybe a smart aleck once cracked — there you are, so be smart, get cracking and go shopping right where you are.
Shopping in person?
Go in town. Even if you're shopping at home online. Online doesn't have to mean across the country.
Not that I "shop," per se, but I do buy things — almost everything online the past 10 months, and the lion's share from local stores. Not all. I pledge to do better. I hope you will, too.
Because we who do are the ones keeping local stores and shops going. That's something that some of us, amid the trauma of the coronavirus pandemic, didn't get at first.
"It seems the tide started shifting in November as customers made a concerted effort to shop local for their gifts. This led to many small shops going from very difficult months to one of their best holiday seasons on record," said Cléo Rajon, executive director of Oklahoma City's Independent Shopkeepers Association.
It turned out that 2020 was a banner year for the Holiday Pop-Ups, run by the association in Midtown. Rajon said they generated more than $300,000 for local retailers in just seven days.
"This was not only much higher than expected, but also a higher per-day and per-square-foot average than we've seen in previous years. We certainly didn't expect to break records in 2020," she said.
To keep shopping local, see https://www.independentshopkeepers.com, which has a list of about 60 shops, including many with online options.
Not all shopkeepers were so fortunate. Retail vacancy increased to 9.7% at the end of 2020 from 8.7% at the end of 2019, according to Price Edwards & Co.
"We anticipate further vacancy, though not a dramatic increase, in the first half of the year. Unfortunately, restaurants and local tenants will bear much of this burden," the firm said in its year-end retail property summary, available at www.priceedwards.com. "As we've said many times in the past, this is the nature of retail, the creative destruction has just been accelerated this past year.
"Expect more closures and bankruptcies in the first half of 2021 as a number of tenants, particularly small shop tenants, restaurants and entertainment concepts, have stretched as far as they can stretch. 2021 will be the year of retail recovery, but it will be a very uneven, choppy recovery."
The Christmas spirit
— the Christmas shopping spirit, at least — helped. Keep that spirit.
"Many shoppers made a concerted effort to shop with locally owned retailers this holiday season because they knew how important those dollars were," said Allison Barta Bailey, broker and urban retail specialist with Price Edwards.
It was my reporting and commentary on the Price Edwards yearend retail summary that prompted Steve Mason to suggest this closer look at local shops.
"When I spoke to our locally owned retailers and friends, 100% reported 2020 Christmas sales same or better than 2019," wrote Mason, of Mason Realty Investors LLC. "I believe this occurred because in-person shopping brings happiness and connections during the COVID period, and the desire to support our local members of our community, our local retailers and friends. ... Might be a great positive story ... about our local retailers who are our friends and neighbors."
Yes, and Rajon said another factor was involved: health and safety.
"From talking to both customers and shopkeepers extensively, I think shoppers saw an opportunity in shopping local to both support their neighbors but also to be able to visit stores safely," she said. "Our local shops have really succeeded in quickly adapting (and readapting) to 2020's challenges to offer the safest environment possible for shoppers, and it made a huge difference during the holiday season.
"Through the Pop-Ups, their in-store experience and curbside pickups, local shops provided a glimpse of normalcy the community really needed, especially during the holidays. It felt like every day was Small Business Saturday in November and December, which was extremely encouraging for the future of independent retail. Many community leaders, including Mayor (David) Holt, played a key role by encouraging the community to rally behind local shops, which made a huge difference."
She added, "I know we often think our individual small purchases aren't going to make a difference, but in this case it did and I'd love for the OKC community to not only be applauded for it, but realize the importance of keeping the effort going year-round."
Real Estate Editor Richard Mize edits
The Oklahoman's Real Estate section, and covers housing, construction, commercial real estate, and related topics for the newspaper and Oklahoman.com. Contact him at rmize@oklahoman.com. Please support his work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a subscription at http://oklahoman. com/subscribe today.