XOXO Love on Downtown Visitors Warm Up Downtown

Winter months can be a tough time for retail businesses. Frigid temperatures can prevent many shoppers and diners from venturing out to explore. Saline Main Street works hard to give residents a reason to bundle up and head downtown.

XOXO Love on Downtown was held on Thursday evening, with many local shops and businesses participating in the event. Visitors downtown could begin at the Cultural 109, where they received a passport for six different locations. At each stop, participants were encouraged to try a “dare”. When passports were completed, they could be turned in for a chance to win one of three gift baskets filled with donations from local businesses.

Mary Dettling, Saline Main Street director, welcomed visitors at the 109 and encouraged them to fill up their passports.

“This is only the second year, and it’s cold outside,” she said. “But that’s why we’re doing this. We’re trying to get people to come downtown for some of the slowest months for these businesses.”

“People are being drawn into businesses that maybe they haven’t visited before and finding new things. There are definitely some new businesses down here. That’s a wonderful way to check them out and to get rewarded for that with the raffles.”

At Carrigan Cafe, Stephanie Sellenraad from Cabi Clothing hosted a pop-up shop where women could find bargains and see new merchandise from the spring catalog.

“I’m supporting Saline Main Street and giving away a percentage of proceeds from my vintage sale rack,” Sellenraad said. “I think community is really important, and we can all support one another. It doesn’t just help with economic growth, but growth in every aspect.”

“We’re having a good time with Cabi Clothing,” said Karen Carrigan, owner of Carrigan Cafe. “It’s nice weather out. I’m telling everybody to come back on Friday night. We’re in the Social District and we’re doing board games, card games, and euchre. And we’re having a Palentine’s Paint Party from 4 to 6 pm on Saturday. You can go to Eventbrite and get a ticket.”

Many shops, such as Cobblestone Rose, extended their store hours for this event.

“We’re staying open a little late to welcome in the community and get more exposure for the stores here,” said Lisa Cayen. Visitors to the store were treated to heart shaped cookies from The Enchanted Oven.

“We’ve seen a lot of people, and the dares have been really fun,” Bill Gibson, owner of Fine Print Bookshop said. “One of the dares was to rename the bookstore, and we’ve been renamed three times now.”

Miss Mercantile Marketplace is a new addition to Saline’s downtown. Owner Nicole Barnhard was excited to participate in the event this year, and was eager to share all the plans for the space in the future.

“My shop is very eclectic,” Barnhard said. “I have people say I don’t know how to pinpoint it, and I like that. I like that it’s unique, and there is something for everyone, all ages. It’s all small businesses.”

Tara Joshi of Clay + Code was one of the organizers for this year’s event. Visitors to the shop could create dream catchers made of clay and try a dare for their passport.

“Doing the dares was a really important aspect,” Joshi said. “I wanted to bring something that was funny for kids to do. A lot of times people think these events are more geared for adults, especially because it’s Valentine’s. I wanted to bring the kids. I think 80 percent of the people participating in this event tonight were kids, which was great. Parents brought them out, and they still did the dares, but it was fun to see the kids participate, too.”

Joshi recruited her niece and nephew, Avi and Fizz Byson, to help at the event. 

“I’ve said it before, and I’ll always say it’s got to be the community connections and bringing people downtown,” Joshi said. “We want to keep up on the foot traffic and let them know that we have a wide variety of businesses now, and just getting people to come on out and enjoy all weather. We got really lucky, as it’s not super cold tonight.”

“I’m so thankful people came out and had fun,” she said.

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