Alabama Retail Association teams with Chamber to jumpstart shopping season

Published 10:15 pm Friday, November 9, 2018

For the second straight year, Santa started his canvassing of who’s been naughty or nice in Alabama by making his first stop in Cullman.

The Jolly Old Elf teamed up with Buddy the Elf Friday for a chilly outdoor Christmas visit, greeting local retailers and community leaders at the Cullman Area Chamber of Commerce breezeway to help kick off the shopping season, both here in Cullman and statewide.

Sponsored by the Alabama Retail Association and hosted by the Chamber, the event served as the statewide start for the association’s “Shop Alabama for the Holidays” tour. The promotion aims to focus on locally owned and operated businesses in Alabama cities, with upcoming tour stops also putting the holiday spotlight on Clanton, Huntsville, Montgomery and Orange Beach.

Retail Association communications manager Melissa Warnke, herself a Cullman native, said Cullman was selected to launch the campaign for a second year because the business atmosphere here “is a model of what a community can be like when a local community does support its retailers.”

Recognizing local business owners Annette Harris (Rumors Deli) and Shannon and Dustin Beaty (Lavish Boutique), each of whom earned 2018 retailer of the year honors in their business categories, Warnke said it’s vital to buy at locally-owned businesses throughout the holiday shopping season.

“This is the most important time of the year; the busiest shopping weeks of the year for local businesses, so it’s really crucial that they have our support,” she said. “Our message is simple: when you shop local, you’re supporting your friends and neighbors, you are strengthening your local economy, and you are investing in the vibrancy of your own city.”

The retail association anticipates that 2018 will be the strongest holiday shopping season ever in Alabama, predicting shoppers will spend more than $12 billion dollars in the months of November and December. If those numbers hold, it would mark a 4.5 percent increase in holiday spending over last year.