Local Businesses are Thankful for In Person Shoppers
Tracy Lehr
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) Chicken Little decked its windows for the 48th year thanks to regular customers.
Courtney Drake shopped with her baby girl and family.
“This is where we get all of our stuff, it is our hometown stuff, it is where we find all of our personalized goodies,” said Drake.
Chicken Little owner Jennifer Bouma enjoys seeing generations of customers.
“It is so joyful, so fun to see the people through the years and the kids grow up and help fulfill that joy,” said Bouma.
She said popular items include Jelly Cat stuffed animals and Maileg mice.
There are also Santa Baby onsies and tiny T-shirts that say Santa Barbara.
People of a certain age like seeing young people shop in person.
Logan Brady said his family went shopping together.
“We love State Street, so it is a great place to shop, the community is really nice, so I thought this is a good place to go,” said Brady, ” I just got a little coat that is pretty nice and I got a hat for myself too, so it is a good day.”
Metro Entertainment workers planted comics around town to attract customers.
They call it gorilla advertising.
The store will be open on Thanksgiving Day from 11-3 p.m. , giving people something to do before Thanksgiving dinner.
The store that has a Comic Club is stocked with Pokeman and more.
Vincent Vazquez enjoys checking out all the choices.
“It feels so much more refreshing to just walk around, look for things. It is an experience in itself and it is just so much better than sitting at home and putting something in a cart and waiting for it to get there,” said Vazguez.
Happy Burney who works at Unity Shoppe said the day before Thanksgiving was busy.
“Always remember the small businesses here in Santa Barbara and we are a nonprofit,” said Burney, “We were so busy.”
She said people stocked up on clothing, dishes and glasses for there table.
The Central Coast is also home to some major brands including Uggs, and Hoka in Goleta and Patagonia in Ventura.
That allows people to shop in person at their headquarter stores.
The owners of brick and mortar stores are thankful for in person shoppers.