Hordes of shoppers from around the Bay Area likely will descend
on Gilroy’s outlets stores each weekend until Christmas, creating a
traffic nightmare on our highways and headaches in the parking
lots. Why don’t you beat the crowds by staying away.
Hordes of shoppers from around the Bay Area likely will descend on Gilroy’s outlets stores each weekend until Christmas, creating a traffic nightmare on our highways and headaches in the parking lots. Why don’t you beat the crowds by staying away. We don’t mean don’t go shopping. Just do it closer to home.
Every year is a challenge for Hollister’s downtown merchants. This year, the Hollister landmark Dorothy McNett’s Place went out of business, the city suffered delays in building the Highway 25 bypass, which would have made San Benito Street more pedestrian friendly, and several merchants say it’s a make-or-break holiday season for them.
But this is not a plea for economic charity, just a request that you consider your local shopping options.
There truly are a variety of businesses – about 200 retailers, restaurants, and commercial businesses – offering many fine products downtown. Boutique De Lingerie will spice up your holiday gift giving, Drapoel’s offers fine fashions and Maddux Jewelry has been serving local people for decades. Countless other stores offer clothes, sporting equipment, antiques and more. And there are places to stop and grab a bite and rest when the pace gets hectic. The prices downtown can be competitive with larger chain stores and the service you receive far outweighs what you will get from the stressed-out teenager behind the counter of one of the outlets.
Shopping locally also supports our quality of life. Before her store closed, McNett wrote a column in this paper saying if the county’s 50,000 or so residents spent $5 per month in her store alone, that would be $250,000 each month. Over a year, that would equal $3 million which translates to nearly a quarter million dollars in state sales tax from local sales alone.
“Multiply that by every business in downtown Hollister and we would have a success story,” she wrote.
Sales tax generated by local businesses stays in town, putting police on the streets and providing recreation programs for our kids. As McNett noted, the bottom line is, if we want our downtown to grow as a social and economic hub for Hollister, we have to close the loop and support the merchants who are the area’s lifeblood by buying their wares.
A successful, vibrant downtown creates a distinct identity for a city. It offers options to its residents for entertainment and it stimulates a local economy that supports the community.
So, during the biggest shopping season of the year, go downtown and support Hollister.
