Tri-State small business owners on holiday shopping: don’t forget about us

CINCINNATI — Small businesses are ringing in the holiday shopping season.

72% of shoppers say they are planning to shop with a small business this year, up from 65% last year, according to Bankrate data.

That’s welcome news to Samantha Roberts, who just opened a vintage store in Over-the-Rhine with her mother-in-law earlier this week. The concept of ‘19-Something’ is that every item comes from the 1900s.

“It’s a little bit of everything,” Roberts said. “Anywhere from the glassware to clothing.”

She told customers that she’s remained busy since she opened.

That busyness is despite financial pressure some consumers might be feeling: interest rates for credit cards are at record levels, student loan payments just resumed, and prices remain high, although inflation has fallen.

Julie Clayton, executive director of the OTR Chamber of Commerce, said consumers are looking to be more intentional with their dollars.

“They want to make the spending that they are doing count,” she said. “It’s really just becoming more of an experience, not just ‘Hey, let’s go shopping.’”

To that end, her team is focused on enhancing the experience for shoppers in the neighborhood. There’s 30 mistletoe hidden around OTR, and the chamber has hired carolers for various days throughout the season.

“You’re not going to get surprise carolers on Amazon,” Clayton said. “You’re just going to get that truly unique experience. And you’re also going to get that customer service feel.”

While most of the world has moved on from the Covid-19 pandemic, Clayton said people’s awareness of the need to support small businesses has remained.

The hope is that people will remember that sentiment this holiday shopping season.

In Covington, Hail Records and Oddities owner Neil Higginbotham believes that will be the case. He said his business is doing well, and that people have had “enough” of ordering from their screen.

He said customers getting to interact with the unique and rotating selection, which he described as “a neighborhood weirdo store,” is what motivates customers to visit and make a purchase.

“It’s just so one of a kind, you’re never going to get another one,” Higginbotham said. “People want to come out, even if it’s just browsing.”

Clayton at the chamber of commerce said the uniqueness of gifts offered by small businesses is what drives customers to them in the first place.

“They just really want to find that one of a kind gift,” she said. “They don’t want to find something that they can go online and they have thousands of.”