Courtesy Downtown Rutland Partnership
A group laughs together during the Jingle Bell Shop event in Downtown Rutland last Thursday.
By Sarah Calvin
On Thursday night, Dec. 7, downtown Rutland came alive during the first iteration of the Jingle Bell Shop, a festive night of community that encouraged consumers to shop local this holiday season. Featuring 24 Rutland businesses, the event paired each shop with a Vermont food or beverage vendor. Tickets to sample the local beers and spirits were $25, and each ticket came with a commemorative glass. Many businesses also offered door prizes and raffle giveaways.
“66 cents of every dollar spent local stays local,” said Tiffany Saltis, executive director of the Downtown Rutland Partnership, the event’s organizer. “That [money] stays within your community: supporting these small businesses, feeding families, creating jobs. The list goes on with how incredibly powerful it is for dollars to stay local because it goes into the future of your community.”
The Jingle Bell Shop is a twist on Sip & Shop events the Partnership has put on in the past. Whereas Sip & Shop caters exclusively to those who enjoy a drink, the Jingle Bell Shop included non-alcoholic drinks, food, entertainment, and plenty of sales to encourage the whole family to come out. Local music store Mountain Music gave customers a $5 off coupon, GreenSpell Plant Shop offered a 2-for-1 deal on air plants, and sandwich shop Hand Carved by Ernie greeted guests with a complimentary reuben slider.
The Jingle Bell Shop is beneficial for businesses, too. Many customers find businesses they didn’t even know existed, and end up coming back with friends.
“These events…directly get people into their shops, their restaurants, and it creates new customers,” said Saltis. “We’ve had people tell us that they’ve been really interested in checking out a business, so this gives them an opportunity to go someplace for the first time. [The owners of Hand Carved by Ernie] said that a person that had attended one of these events came back the next week to have lunch there. It really does create lifelong relationships with new customers and businesses.”
Frog Hollow Farmstead in Hubbardton is one of those small businesses enjoying the opportunity for connection. Owner Jason Reinke set up shop inside Pyramid Holistic Wellness Center and offered customers a sample of his family’s homemade crackers, cheese, and granola. Made primarily with ingredients the Reinke family either grows or forages for, their food is an authentic taste of Rutland County.
“It was fun to meet people,” said Reinke. “We get to talk to people in a more one-on-one fashion which we really enjoy… so we keep doing it. Keep coming back.”
