In the face of increasing online competition, Barrington business owner Deborah Leydig knows how to prepare her business for the holiday shopping season — one of the most important times of the year for area small businesses.
The owner of Norton’s USA, a general store in Barrington that sells only U.S.-made products, is decking out her business with holiday decor, festive treats and gifts for customers during Leydig’s annual “Christmas Open House,” which takes place during daytime hours on Black Friday and the rest of the Thanksgiving weekend.
Customers also can enter to win Leydig’s handcrafted gift wrapping and ribbons, another personal touch she uses to encourage customers to visit her small business at a time when many retailers deal with changing consumer habits and the rise of online shopping.
“It’s a labor of love,” Leydig said of her holiday preparations. “It is our biggest day of the year.”
As local shoppers prepare to flock to retailers on Black Friday in search of deals, numerous small business owners in the Lake County area said they also try to create personal experiences for customers to draw them into their stores.
Many of those brick-and-mortar store owners said they are depending on creating a personable and memorable walk-in experience for the busiest shopping weekend of the year in ways that online retailers, such as Amazon, can’t offer customers.
“They offer products. You offer service that you don’t find in the big-box stores,” said Ryan Messner, president of the Long Grove Business and Community Partners.
The local business association recently announced plans to turn downtown Long Grove into a nostalgic North Pole experience, with free horse-drawn carriage rides, holiday lighting, costumed carolers, a Christmas tree parade and even an appearance by Santa Claus.
The festivities begin on Black Friday with carriage rides during the afternoon hours, the association said. The intention is to create a personable experience for customers that stands in contrast to the shopping frenzy Black Friday can cause, Messner said.
Marianne Ward, owner of the gift store Within Reach in Long Grove, said the experience is needed to keep customers coming back to small businesses.
“It’s just a different type of shopping,” Ward said. “We can’t do any of the deep discounts, so we try to create an experience out here.”
National indicators point to a strong holiday season for numerous retailers largely because of increased consumer confidence, according to the National Retail Federation’s annual holiday sales forecast.
The national retail association, representing department stores, small businesses, internet retailers and others, recently said sales in November and December, excluding vehicle, gasoline and restaurant sales, are expected to increase by 3.6 percent over the previous year. In 2015, holiday sales increased 3.2 percent over the prior year, according to NRF.
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NRF bases its holiday sales forecast on numerous indicators, including consumer credit, disposable personal income and previous monthly retail sales numbers, the association said in a news release.
At Norton’s USA, Leydig said the personal atmosphere inside her store during the holidays involve floor-to-ceiling decorations. The decor also changes every year, depending on what inspires Leydig, she said.
“We don’t fully decorate until Thanksgiving, so that when people walk in, it looks new and different,” Leydig said.
Area store owners also have found other ways to incentivize customers to make the trek out to their stores.
Leydig silk-screens her own gift wrapping, allowing her customers to add a unique touch to their presents for family and friends, she said.
At Sapphire Sky in Lincolnshire, owner Liz Aron ties bows by hand onto each of her holiday gift bags for customers. She said she changes the colors every year, adding how the process takes time to create the proper experience for customers.
“It takes us months to get ready,” Aron said.
The Lincolnshire owner relies heavily on customers visiting her actual store. Aron said she sends an email about store offerings to customers once a month.
Beyond that, she keeps her business “fairly low-tech,” she said.
Increased web traffic around the holidays at Norton’s USA requires Leydig to pack 20 or 30 boxes a day for online customers. But she said she realizes she can’t compete directly with online retailers, but she wasn’t ever intending to do so.
When she opened Norton’s USA, she wanted to create an atmosphere that catered to smaller communities, she said.
“It’s a continual battle,” Leydig said. “It’s up to the consumer. I can’t beat Amazon’s free shipping. You have to spend a little bit more to have a town.”
Twitter @RonnieAtPioneer