NORTHAMPTON — After a tough year of pandemic-related shutdowns and occupancy limits, Northampton’s downtown businesses are hoping for a surge in foot traffic with the return of the Sidewalk Sales this week.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions that forced nonessential businesses to shutter nationwide, the traditional summer Sidewalk Sales were not held in 2020. Amy Cahillane, executive director of the nonprofit Downtown Northampton Association (DNA), which organizes the event, said the hiatus was “another hit in a year-plus of financial hits.”
“The health of our business owners, customers and staff is the most important thing,” said Cahillane. As vaccination rates climb, mask mandates are lifted and public health guidelines allow for more in-person social interaction, the four-day event will return this Thursday and run through the weekend.
About 45 shops, restaurants and nonprofits are planning to participate this year. Many stores in Thornes Marketplace — such as The Blue Marble handcrafted gift shop, the independent department store Cedar Chest and the menswear boutique Jackson & Connor — are participating, along with Turn It Up record store, Deals & Steals, Northampton Wools and local advocacy groups, among dozens of others.
An artist will offer caricatures outside Inspirit Crystals, and DJ Just Joan will play a variety of music outside Thornes in the afternoons.
The Sidewalk Sales are scheduled from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and from noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday. The event will take place rain or shine. Preparation is scheduled to begin on Wednesday morning, when crews from Northampton Rentals will set up tents and tables on Main and Pleasant streets.
“If you’ve been to Sidewalk Sales before, it will look very familiar,” said Cahillane. But she added that some businesses will keep their offerings indoors because of staffing. Hiring remains a challenge for many downtown employers after pandemic-related layoffs swept the service industries, she said, and some businesses may not have an extra worker to send outdoors.
Kathie Walz, owner of The Blue Marble and the newborn-to-preschool clothing and toy store Little Blue, still prefers to wear a mask, and her staff can do so if they choose. She said the Sidewalk Sales offer a chance to “put anything before 2021 behind me.”
“I can’t believe some of the prices I’m letting my manager put on” the on-sale products, Walz said. Some of the handcrafted jewelry, flatware, gifts, home decorations and other items will be 90% off during the Sidewalk Sales, she said, and nothing will be less than 50% off.
“This isn’t old, tired merchandise,” she said. “It’s stuff I brought in before COVID.”
The sale will make room for new fair-trade jewelry, pottery, local art and clothing. Walz said that “a lot of us who got used to wearing sweatpants every day” during the pandemic lockdowns are looking for “something pretty” to wear, and clothing has been a popular item at her stores for the past several months.
Justin Brown, owner of Assemble on the basement level of Thornes, said his vintage furniture and nostalgia item shop is participating in the Sidewalk Sales for the first time since opening four years ago.
The store’s participation is “part sidewalk sale, part introduction to the community. Not everybody knows we’re down here,” said Brown. The products on offer will show “a representation of who we are.”
The past year of COVID restrictions “has been a challenge,” he said, “but I feel like we’re coming out on the other side.”
Cahillane, the DNA director, said the Sidewalk Sales are one way to support businesses as the economy recovers, but more work is needed.
“The shutdown lasted a long time. There’s no magic switch that you can flip and everything gets back to normal,” she said. “Things are looking up, but we are not out of the woods.”
Organizers are unsure how many times the Sidewalk Sales have been held, but photos of the event in the Gazette date back to at least 1968. The DNA formed in 2016, and has run the Sidewalk Sales since then. Prior to the DNA’s involvement, the sales were organized by the Northampton Business Improvement District.
Membership in the DNA is open to Northampton businesses, property owners, individuals and families with suggested donations starting at $25. Contributions to the DNA fund the Sidewalk Sales and other events and improvements downtown, like the Summer Block Party, Arts Night Out, the Holiday Stroll and more.
Brian Steele can be reached at bsteele@gazettenet.com