Small Business Saturday sales soar

Locals and tourists came out to do their holiday shopping in historic downtown Alamogordo during Small Business Saturday.

"It's been great," said Audrey Bunker, downtown merchant and owner of Vintage Etcetera. "People have been coming to shop our sales but also coming to know there's shops in historical downtown Alamogordo."

Vintage Etcetera opened their doors early and Bunker said she saw a crowd of at least 30 customers by Saturday morning, which is higher than their usual Saturday business crowd.

"Small Business Saturday sometimes means our survival for after the first of the year," Bunker said. "It means that people come to know that small businesses can give them better service and have unique gifts. It introduces some to our businesses and brings them back as repeat customers and that's always good for us."

Rhonda Baldonado, owner of Trail Boss Jerky, said business  was better this year versus last year's Small Business Saturday. 

"I think everybody is done with Black Friday and it's great that the community is supporting us for Small Business Saturday," Baldonado said. "It's been an awesome day for us."

Baldonado said it's important to support local businesses because the money stays within the community.

"We've also got that hometown feel," she said. "You get that personalized service that nobody else gets."

Alice Weynman, owner of Victoria, said they had a couple hundred customers in their store on Black Friday and they had already had a couple hundred customers by mid-afternoon Saturday.

"This is where it's at, this is historic downtown," Weynman said. "We love (our customers) and the dollars that are spent on New York Avenue stay right here. There are no big company businesses here. We're all individuals and the money stays in town."

Victoria, which has been in business for 34 years, has stayed downtown because that's where Victoria belongs, Weynman said.

"You take Victoria out of this little building and off of New York Avenue and it ceases to exist," she said. "Business just keeps growing. We have a couple empty buildings down here and we'd sure like some good entrepreneurs to move down here and join us."

As Small Business Saturday ends, the downtown merchants will begin to get prepared for Olde Fashioned Christmas Dec. 5.

Weynman, who was around when the original Olde Fashioned Christmas was hosted downtown in the 1980s said it was a magical time in Alamogordo's history.

"Back then we used to close down the streets and we only had choirs, it was very peaceful," she said. "During the best one we ever had, there was a light snow during the day and there was a little bit of snow still dropping."

Weynman said people came out in droves to attend Olde Fashioned Christmas that year.

"We used to have burning barrels in the middle of the street, guys stood around the barrels and the women and kids enjoyed the shopping and all the goodies," she said. "We only served hot chocolate and gingerbread men that year and it was the best one ever, according to me."

This year, the downtown merchants will host carolers, horse-drawn trolley rides, Santa's Village, the Little Miss Christmas Pageant, a live nativity scene, entertainment, food and will open their stores for shoppers. Olde Fashioned Christmas will be hosted from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 5.