By Melonie Magruder
Lookout Staff

December 9, 2010 – With economists declaring the recent deep recession officially “over,” but with national unemployment figures still hovering near 10 percent, local retailers are nervously looking forward to a more festive holiday shopping season than last year’s.

Last weekend’s Main Street tree lighting party, coupled with a holiday window decorating contest and a flurry of sidewalk sales, brought revelers out in droves, as well as bringing a sigh of retail relief to boutique-style merchants lining the busy boulevard.

Gary Gordon, president of the Main Street Business Improvement Association, which plans the annual festivities, said, “We had more people at this year’s tree lighting event than we ever have seen.”

Indeed, the association built upon past seasonal successes with a formula heavy on community involvement and strategically planned holiday events. Last weekend’s event marked the beginning of the shopping season, framed in fun.

Brightly lit Christmas trees and colorful sparkling lights festooned Main Street. Many vendors participated in the 7th Annual Windows Decorations Contest and highlighted in-store parties and promotions. Appropriately dressed carolers serenaded. Santa Claus made an appearance. And enough shoppers came ready to pull out their wallets.

Agabhumi Store on Main Street in Santa Monica. Photo by Melonie Magruder for the Lookout News

“The weekend was wildly successful for us,” Agabhumi store manager Christina Norton said. “Our traffic during the weekend was double last year and I got the feeling people were finally ready to slow down and enjoy the moment. Most of our business is local and we try to offer a lot of promotions that keep our repeat neighborhood customers happy.”

Norton said that her customers seemed cautiously optimistic and ready to pick up extra items as hostess thank you gifts or party accessorizing wear. Creative approaches to promotion included “Catch a Falling Snowflake” discounts and “Twelve Days of Christmas” gift items. Norton said she was thinking of repeating a popular “T’was the Night Before Christmas” poetry contest.

Other Main Street merchants were similarly enthusiastic. Marina (who declined to give her last name), the store manager at the women’s boutique Monkie, said that the up tick in the economy means shoppers are ready to pay for good value.

“I’m not hearing as much negative talk about the economy,” Marina said. “And women seem to be ready to dress up and party a little. Vintage “Mad Men” type accessories are popular. And people are really responding to some of the holiday promotions we’re offering (like gift cards for $25 off purchases of $80 or more).”

Jessica Carfagno of Free People was not quite as sunny. She said that despite staying open late and inviting a local bakery to create in-store holiday treats, shoppers were not as forthcoming last weekend.

“There were a lot of people on the street,” Carfagno said. “It’s still early in the season. It’s hard to say right now.”

Euphoria Loves RAWvolution, the raw food restaurant, packed the house last weekend and won first place for the juried prize in window decorations with their nod to global holiday celebration. Manager Zat Elias said that their promotion of local artisans, live music and, of course, healthy alternatives to holiday meals have kept staff hopping.

The Green Life, which features all things eco-friendly, took advantage of the holiday weekend to launch a new line of organic cosmetics.

“We do some strategic partnering and saw a lot of traffic,” owner Scott O’Brien said. “There seemed to be twice the number of shoppers out and about. We saw a boost toward the end of November and we’re hoping that this continues through the season.”

Gordon acknowledged that there is still turnover in new businesses on Main Street, but said that any lag time in vacancies is narrowing.

“I’d like to say that all our predictions are glowing, but it’s still touch and go,” Gordon said. “There’s definitely a better feeling this year than last. We’re seeing some real diversity in the types of merchants coming in.”

Norton, whose store opened two years ago, just as the recession was beginning, had a philosophical outlook.

“We opened our doors just as the economy was tanking,” she said. “So the only direction we could go is up.”