Walking tour of downtown Lafayette kicks off holiday shopping
LAFAYETTE, Ind. — A crisp November breeze kicked up autumn leaves in downtown Lafayette, setting the stage for spirit of holiday shopping.
Wreaths and lighted snowflake displays already grace lamp posts throughout downtown. Christmas is in the air.
A stroll through locally owned businesses on Thursday, led by the U.S. Small Business Administration, boosted the campaign of Small Business Saturday, two weeks from the date, Nov. 25, when the focus shifts from the mammoth shopping day of Black Friday to one showcasing the benefits of shopping "small."
Small Business Saturday, traditionally two days after Thanksgiving and the day after Black Friday, was founded by American Express in 2010 and officially co-sponsored a year later by the Small Business Administration to celebrate and support small businesses.
"That’s why we’re here today," Geri Aglipay, Small Business Administration Great Lakes regional administrator, told about three dozen who participated in Thursday's walking tour, "lacing up our walking boots to explore the diverse and unique offerings we can only find on Lafayette’s Main Street."
The tour, which started outside the Lafayette Theater, included stops at one of the oldest shops in Lafayette, McCord Candies, where Angie Pattengale enters her second holiday season owning the candy store that's been in downtown since 1912.
"We're actually preparing for our Christmas turnover right now," Pattengale told the Journal & Courier, having just finished up the busy Halloween shopping stretch. "Halloween is the catalyst to Christmas, kind of the tip of the iceberg and gets us warmed up for it."
McCord Candies offers a variety of confections and their popular candy canes created in house, as well as sodas, Italian creams, shakes and malts.
One item on the menu, the Cherry Quinn phosphate soda, is named after Pattengale's daughter, who would requested the drink long before the family bought the shop.
"I could never remember what goes in the drink she liked," Pattengale told the tour, "so now it's named after her. It's a cherry vanilla marshmallow coke."
The tour also visited Bistro Market & Deli, once the Lahr Hotel lobby dating back to the mid-1800s. Today, it's where you can purchase gourmet deli and market items, sandwiches, coffee, tea and locally produced goods. It's also where Mark Twain once stood. And, as a tour guide described, Ulysses S. Grant once called the Lahr Hotel his home-away-from-home. At least for a night.
A refreshing aroma hits you as soon as you enter Essentially Aqua, a shop full of soaps, lotions and other personal hygiene treats. Lavender chamomile bath bombs join spearmint lip balms, to name just a couple of items, in striking up a sensory sensation.
Other stops on the tour included Flora Candle Company, owned by perhaps the youngest entrepreneur in downtown Lafayette, 23-year-old Nolan Willhite, and April Cochran-Smith's shop, Scout, a place to find unique gifts for special occasions.
According to American Express, 2022 saw shoppers spending an estimated $17.9 billion at small retailers and restaurants. A study by the company found that 68 cents of every dollar spent at a small business stays in that local community.
The average amount consumers spend at small businesses, the survey stated, was $75.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Walking tour of downtown Lafayette kicks off holiday shopping
