Newspaper Page Text
Page 2— Wednesday, November 29, 2023, The True Citizen
More local shoppers needed downtown
The photo pictured above shows the activity on Liberty Street at 5:32 p.m. during the Christ
mas on Liberty Square event Friday while the photo pictured below shows the activity on
Sixth Street one minute later.
SHELLIE SMITLEY
thetruecitizen.shellie@gmail.com
Editor’s note: This is part 1
of a 2-part series.
Downtown Waynesboro
storeowners are appealing to
residents to purchase Christ
mas gifts locally this year.
The Liberty Street advan
tage
Janice, owner of Junk in the
Trunk on Liberty, said most
of her shop’s customers come
from out-of-town. However,
she relocated from Sixth to
Liberty Street about six weeks
ago. It’s a move she suspects
will benefit her business.
“It’s different here,” she ad
mitted. “More locals come on
Liberty Street, but they don’t
go around the comer to support
businesses on Sixth Street. I’ve
even had customers say they
just don’t go over there. So,
moving to Liberty Street has
been a plus for me.”
Grit and Grace Boutique &
Gifts owner, Ashley, feels her
shop is often overlooked since
opening on 6th Street in June.
She feels strongly that her
business is disadvantaged by
its location. She has been en
couraged to move her business
to Liberty Street. However, she
would like to see all the down
town businesses embraced.
“We shouldn’t always want
everyone on Liberty Street,”
Ashley said. “ You have a lot
of downtown businesses that
are trying to thrive here.” She
believes the downtown area
needs signage directing shop
pers to stores that sit away
from Liberty Street.
Not everyone is sharing the
same experience. Jenna, owner
of Pecan Row, said her Liberty
Street store enjoys a huge lo
cal following since opening in
2016. She also has loyal out-
of-town customers.
“I just completely renovated
my building and I wouldn’t
have been able to do that if we
didn’t have good customers,”
she pointed out.
However, Michelle’s shop,
Willow Lane, has been on
Liberty Street since October
2022. Business is slow for the
store that carries new and used
men, women’s and children’s
clothing and custom refur
bished furniture. Kay, of Joe
and Kay’s One Stop Shop on
Liberty Street, said her store
sees a mixture of local and
out-of-town clientele. Like
Jenna, Roxanne, owner of Boro
Belles & Babes, said her shop
is heavily supported by Burke
County residents. However,
she estimated that about 30%
of consumers on a typical
Saturday at her shop are from
out-of-town. Still, Roxanne
believes signage directing pa
trons to Sixth Street shops is a
good idea.
“Whatever is good for any
one business in Waynesboro is
good for us all,” she said. “The
more thriving businesses we
have, the better for everybody.”
Online vs. foot traffic sales
Janice said the annual Down
town Christmas Open House
November 19 brought an influx
of shoppers.
“If every day was like that,
we would all survive,” she said.
Instead, after the holidays,
sales are minimal until a short
burst at income tax return time.
The summer months are “hor
rific” as far as sales go, Janice
admitted. Even the fall season
leaves shop owners hanging
on for the holiday season.
However, besides the shop on
Liberty Street, Janice operates
two booths in antique malls
outside of Waynesboro. This
summer, the sales were down
even at the booths, compared
to last year.
“September and October
(2023) were two of the worse
months I had,” Janice said
speaking of both her shop
and her booths. Jenna agreed
the economy is negatively
affecting sales this year. She
too experienced slower sum
mertime sales. Michelle said
hergoing-back-to-school sales
were down this year. She sees
consumers sticking to “practi
cal” gift giving this holiday
season. Kay said toy sales are
not as good as she had hoped
even after offering layaway.
“People have to choose be
tween buying gas and buying
groceries,” Janice said. “Have
you been to the grocery store?
You come out of there with two
little bags and spent $100.”
However, Jenna believes
having most of the storefronts
filled with businesses presents
a bigger draw for out-of-town
shoppers to spend the day
downtown. Still, many of the
shops can’t depend solely on
in-store sales to keep their
doors open. Pecan Row uses
a website and Jenna said a
“good number” of sales are
generated online. Roxanne said
her business has a website and
is promoted on a multitude of
social media platforms. Her
online sales are split between
shipping and store pickup.
Michelle does not maintain a
website because she runs the
store by herself. However, she
does sell items on Facebook.
Ashley said most of her sales
come from doing business on
social media. Janice said online
sales are not feasible for her
business because of the “break
able” aspect of much of what
she sells. Kay said her business
does not sell items online.
Christmas Shopping in
Downtown Waynesboro
Janice invites local shoppers
to check out her inventory of
new farmhouse items. Also,
she carries china and crystal,
which are trending with young
women. Junk in the Trunk on
Liberty carries a selection of
quilts.
“We sell a lot of vintage
kitchen items,” she said. “We
try to have something for ev
erybody and try to keep our
prices reasonable.”
Michelle, a former teacher at
Waynesboro Primary School,
said she would like to see
more support coming from her
hometown.
“I challenge everybody to
come downtown and see what
everybody has,” she said. “See
what you can buy here instead
of buying online. It would be
great to see more hometown
people who I know.”
Joe and Kay’s One Stop
Shop still has a lot of toys on
the shelves and continues to of
fer layaway. The store also cus
tomizes gifts with embroidery,
vinyl and sublimation services.
The store carries everything
from tools to home decor. She
also carries unique gift ideas
like a tall coffee sipper cup
equipped with a Bluetooth
speaker that can be customized
on the outside.
Fleetwood Coin & Jewelry
carries a wide selection of rare
collector coins and fine jew
elry. It is the perfect place to
shop for the hard-to-buy- for
person.
Grit and Grace Boutique &
Gifts carries designer hand
bags, jewelry, candles and
clothes. They also offer assis
tance in creating customized
gift bags. Items in the shop
range from $3-$100.
“I invite people to give me
a try to see if what I have is
within their budget for this
Christmas season,” Ashley
said.
2023 TOP AGENT OF THE YEAR
BURKE COUNTY, GEORGIA
Anne Marie Kyzer
zxpertmcc/
The' Difference
www.maryyeltonrealty.com
I am happy to annouce Annie Marie Kyzer as the Top Real Estate
Agent in Burke County. Sales Data taken from the Augusta MLS
of both member and non-members confirms that Anne Marie
Kyzer is the top performing agent in ALL categories of both
Listing and Selling real estate in Burke County above any agent
from anywhere. Anne Marie is also a mother of two children,
member of Rosemont Baptist Church, a 4-H Team Coach, member
of Burke Health Loundation, and a person always looking to help
others.
Broker Max Boswell, Mary Yelton Realty
as.re.sm
Congratulations to
Anne Marie Kyzer
on being recognized as the
2023 Top Real Estate Agent
of the Year!
RGA
REALTORS
GREATER AUGUSTA
REALTOR
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