Jan. 13—As small business owners navigated the holiday shopping season, Scranton Tomorrow helped out in a big way.

The nonprofit community and economic development organization expanded its Deck the Downtown campaign — which ran Nov. 1 through Jan. 6 — in hope of encouraging more people to shop and dine in the downtown business district.

"We started a little bit earlier to get as much exposure for the downtown businesses as we could, for the longest period of time, so we could capture some customers who would be doing pre-holiday shopping and make sure customers had supporting local and shopping small on the mind," said Liz Baldi, business development director for Scranton Tomorrow.

Cathy Mineo, owner of The Art Room Creative Space, 309 Penn Ave., was grateful for the added attention on Facebook and Instagram which brought more customers to her shop.

"They were really great at promoting our downtown businesses," she said. "A lot of people said they didn't even know we were downtown until they saw it on social media, and some were saying they came down for some of the other businesses and then saw us."

Mineo added the sales of everything — including gift boxes, gift cards and classes — were up this year.

"We've only been open since September 2020, so this was our third holiday season, and it was definitely busier than the other two," she said.

Jamie Durkin, who launched Vecina Design at 540 Biden St. in June, also lauded Scranton Tomorrow officials for their efforts during the busy shopping season.

"They did an awesome job," she said. "Liz Baldi was in and out of my store all throughout the holidays making sure they were on top of everything for the business owners."

Durkin added Small Business Saturday on Nov. 26 served as a good jumpstart to a profitable December.

"It was probably my most successful day," she said. "A lot of people who walked into my store specifically came into town to participate in Small Business Saturday. It was really nice to see that much support."

Baldi noted more store owners participated in the campaign this year and many noticed a boost in sales.

"It helps significantly because a small business can only do so much in terms of marketing themselves," she said. "It's such a busy time of year so we know any help they get is valued and appreciated. From some of the testimonials from small businesses, they had a very successful holiday shopping season compared to some of the years prior as they were coming out of COVID."

Baldi believes more people began recognizing the impact supporting local businesses has on the region in recent years.

"One thing the COVID pandemic showed the community is supporting local really has a ripple effect on not only the small business owners but also our local economy," she said.

Meegan Possemato, co-owner of On & On, a marketplace for repurposed, recycled and vintage items at 1138 Capouse Ave., was encouraged by the volume of sales coming off a strong season in 2021.

"We had a great holiday season," she said. "Last year, coming off the pandemic was a really, really good year for us and we didn't think we could come close to that again, and we did. It felt like people really wanted to support local again and buy things that were different."

Contact the writer:

rtomkavage@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9131;

@rtomkavage on Twitter.