NORTHAMPTON — Under the white tents lining Main Street, the vendors sold things that would not normally be found on sidewalks. They hawked candy and Christmas ornaments, Weezer CDs and “X-Files” DVDs, gluten-free cookies and racks of shoes, some in boxes, some not.
Perhaps it seemed crowded only because of the tents – the actual number of people on the sidewalks was not exorbitant – but those walking through the annual Northampton Sidewalk Sales on Friday did tend to linger, drawn in by signs advertising price reductions and employees making conversation.
A handful of shoppers browsed through the CDs and DVDs in front of Turn It Up! on Pleasant Street. Ten minutes earlier, a customer had been excited to stumble upon a Robyn Hitchcock box set, employee Christian Ortiz said.
“We move a lot of things here that have been sitting around for a while, especially DVDs and box sets,” he said.
The most popular items thus far this weekend have been box sets like that one, as well as selections from an assortment of $5 new CDs, Ortiz said. Turn It Up! ordered those CDs in anticipation of the four-day sales event, but the weekend has also given the store a chance to sell items neglected by in-store shoppers.
Down Main Street, sales associate Marcia Gordenstein stood under a tent in front of Pinch. One of the small booth’s most prominent displays was its holiday ornaments, which Gordenstein said had been selling well, because regular buyers know they go on sale in July.
Although the chance of rain later in the weekend could pose a problem, Gordenstein said she thought customers would show up regardless.
“It was very busy (Thursday), even with the heat,” she said of the first day of the sidewalk sales, which run through Sunday.
Farther down the street, Alexa De Los Reyes had a vague memory of previous sidewalk sales in the city. She said she lived in the area a decade ago, and though she has since moved to Washington, D.C., with her husband and sons, she and her family return every summer.
She and her family had wound up in the middle of the sales by accident as they walked downtown, but she said it was a welcome event in which to find herself.
“It’s fun,” she said. “It’s accessible. It’s easier than dragging the kids in and out of shops.”
Under another Main Street canopy, a shop known for its cold treats offered baked ones instead.
“Usually, we’re selling a lot of ice cream, but it’s a little hot for that,” Herrell’s Ice Cream owner Judy Herrell said.
The store does have some equipment that would let it sell ice cream even in the heat, she added, but it also offered a chance to show off the baked goods – like the vegan “No-Moo” cookies – which normally don’t have much display room in the store.
Even better is the interaction with customers, she said. Being on the sidewalk means drawing in people who have not been in the store before or who don’t come in often.
“You see all the people you don’t see all year,” she said. “You get to meet a lot of new people. You get to talk about your business. For me, personally, I get ideas.”
So far this weekend, she’s spoken with a group from Wisconsin visiting a friend at Smith College and a family with six children, newly arrived from Syria. She sent them around the corner for ice cream.