UA Chamber Business Monthly 2/03/2011
[Article reprinted from ThisWeek UA 1/6/2011]
Upper Arlington businesses made Santa’s nice list this Christmas.
Thanks to news articles and marketing programs that highlight gift items from local retailers, such as the Upper Arlington Area Chamber of Commerce’s Top 100 Gift Ideas, several local businesses reported crowded storefronts and better sales figures this holiday season over previous ones, with favorable forecasts for 2011.
Diane Maute, owner of Ursus on Fishinger Road, said that the art gallery benefited directly from The Columbus Dispatch and Capital Style gift guides. The annual gift guides highlighted a couple of products local artists made available through her gallery.
“Several shoppers mentioned the artist’s gifts featured in the guides when they made their purchases,” Maute said.
She went on to explain she didn’t have any direct customer feedback from the chamber’s Top 100 Gift Ideas but said she was excited about the program
“When the chamber announced the program I was very excited about the idea and was one of the first retailers to jump on board,” she said. “The program was a great no cost promotion. If they do it again next year I’d like to be a part of it.”
Ryan Huffman, of Huffman’s Market in Tremont Center, echoed Maute’s sentiment.
“The program idea was amazing. Our gift offer for the personalized bottle of wine was an exceptional value and I’m happy that some people took advantage of it. If the chamber does it next year we’ll do it again.” Huffman said. “This holiday season we were packed with loyal customers; this community and its support of local businesses is really amazing. The past year was like a tidal wave of opportunity for us and we’re looking forward to fine tuning so that we can take full advantage of those opportunities as we serve Upper Arlington in 2011.”
For the inaugural year of the program, the chamber opened up the Top 100 Gift Ideas to both members and non-members at no cost.
Karen Hamilton, membership development director for the chamber, said, “It spurred a great buzz for the local businesses and the chamber received very positive feedback. The Top 100 Gift Idea link on the UAChamber.org website received thousands of hits. Now that we’ve laid the groundwork, we can build and improve the program for next year.”
After the past several years of a down economy, employees at several other local businesses, including The Original Goodie Shop, said they were happy with how full the shops were and that people seemed more willing to spend.
Maute said the increased sales means that as she heads into 2011 she’ll be able to invest in a new group of local artists, including marketing several local and nationally known independent authors.
“I’ve been really cognizant of listening to my customers’ desires,” she said. “After this past year of steady sales increases I look forward with renewed energy; 2011 will bring many exciting new goodies to Ursus.”