Snowball drop to promote small biz
Eureka residents looking to sit out the frenzy of Black Friday shopping will have a reason to buy local with the yearly Small Business Saturday and an accompanying giveaway event starting this weekend.
Snowball Drop, the annual event hosted by Eureka Main Street, will kick off 11:30 a.m. on Saturday at the gazebo with a giant snowball cannon firing discounts and giveaways into the air.
The deals all pertain to local small businesses in Eureka. Some have stuck around for decades, even as a changing commercial landscape has moved many shoppers online.
“Shopping is still a fun thing to do,” said Charlotte McDonald, the executive director of Eureka Main Street. “People love to come down to Old Town from out of the area. We have a lot of unique shops, a lot of things you can’t buy online.”
Over at Booklegger, a locally owned used bookstore in Old Town, the added bustle of Small Business Saturday is more than welcome.
“We’re lucky to live somewhere where people are conscientious about the impacts of shopping local,” said Booklegger co-owner Jennifer McFadden said.
“One of the challenges for brickand-mortar stores is competing with the online giants,” McFadden added. “But the community members here actively want
to buy something from us, because we’re a small business that contributes to this community and this sense of place.”
Recently, the Snowball Drop began offering giveaways in addition to gift certificates. This year’s event will see free offers abound: Surfside Burger Shack, for example, is giving out orders of the restaurant’s specialty fries.
“It’s very important in Humboldt County to give back to the community that so wonderfully supports us,” Surfside owner Amanda Fernandez said.
Ciara’s Irish Shop, the Old Town clothing store, will give away items like gloves, mugs, pan-warmers and scarves as part of the occasion. It’s the second year that the decades-old fancy clothing store has participated.
“I find we’re getting people in here that wouldn’t necessarily come in otherwise,” said owner CC Cree of Small Business Saturday. Still, Cree hopes to see larger-scale signs of help for Old Town’s businesses — namely by improving the area’s lighting to encourage more evening shoppers.
“I think we have fabulous restaurants and some of the best boutiques,” Cree said, “but we’d be better served to have (more lights) down here so locals aren’t afraid to come.”
As the Thanksgiving weekend gets underway, most Eureka business owners interviewed were pleased that the community is willing to snub Black Friday in order to promote a more local tradition.
“Events like this are hugely important to remind people the contributions small businesses make to the community,” McFadden said, “and how we support individuals who live here. Community stores really add a unique texture to the city — a local flavor.”