ST. GEORGE, Utah — For shoppers, this season is the most wonderful time of the year, but Utah store owners hope people shop a little bit more with a cart than a keyboard.
Monica Bracken grew up in St. George and remembers before dot-coms and big boxes when people would walk around to mom-and-pop stores for Christmas. Now, a co-owner with her husband of the Rise and Wonder boutique in Ancestor Square, she’s part of a new wave of people trying to bring that back.
"I think if they knew what we do for the community, it would help out. Plus the vibe. We've created a vibe in our store," Bracken shared.
Bracken said people come into the couple's store, sit on the couch or they run and grab a coffee and just relax.
"They're like, this is just so fun and cool to sit down!" she said.
At Hurst’s General Store, the original mom-and-pop in St. George going back to 1946, they said they were busier than recent Black Fridays, which pans out with the National Retail Foundation. According to them, 81.7 million consumers shopped in stores last Friday, up nearly 5 million from last year and the highest level since the pandemic.
And what brings Santa out shopping?
"Christmas. How about that, huh?" said St. George resident and a Santa himself, Ken Decker. "Gotta get stocking stuffers, gotta get a lot of gifts and stuff like that. That's what we're out for."
As a portrayer of the jolly big man himself, Decker goes to a lot of mom-and-pop stores in St. George for his holiday shopping.
"A lot of the stuff's homemade, handmade, and I really prize those things because they're made by somebody with some heart, usually," he said.
As the longtime owner of the St. George location of the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, Shaunna Durante has seen the rise of clicking instead of going to brick and mortars but believes it’s the handmade aspect that can still win over shopping in person over a keyboard.
"It's a tough struggle," she admitted. "I think a lot of it for us is they know they're going to get something fresh.
"That's a big part of it. People know when they come in, they're not only gonna probably indulge themselves a little bit, but they're going to get something that's unique."
