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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 'Vjfii