Dozens of shoppers gathered at CTX Coffee (114 E. Dewey) on Saturday morning for a free coffee event to kick off Shop Small Saturday, a national movement that’s taken strong roots in downtown Sapulpa.
In addition to the free coffee sponsored by First United Bank, shoppers were there to pick up their “Shop Small” tote bag, which included a map of all the participating stores in the day’s Shop Small event.
About 15 stores participated in the local shopping extravaganza, a number that Sapulpa Main Street Director Cindy Lawrence said is much higher than usual. “We used to have just eight or nine stores on here,” she said. “Now we have fifteen. It’s just incredible.”
Among the stores participating is the brand new Finn Knows Soap (30 N. Water), which was celebrating its grand opening with free hot dogs from Patriot Cafe. Owners Rudy Peinhaupt and Jen Fertig said the turnout was great and people stopped by for more than the free food.
The customers turned out in droves for the specials, whether from seasoned retailers like Isabella’s (201 E. Dewey) or Little Bit of Country (124. E. Dewey), or brand new businesses like Chuck-It Axe Co. (16 S. Water) or Bunce and Bean (110 E. Dewey). Bunce and Bean was offering one of the best specials, at 70% off of everything in the store, plus what they called “blind bags”—packaged lapel pins that made it almost impossible to tell what you were getting.
Stores that have been open for years were seeing new traffic, including Route 66 Vintage Market, a collection of booths, each with its unique offerings of vintage decor, gifts, and more. By 2 p.m. in the afternoon, owners Archie and Terri Fain were celebrating. “We’ve made nearly double what we make on a normal Saturday, and I haven’t even checked in with LovaMe, yet,” Terri said. LovaMe is the latest booth to open in the ‘Market,’ a women’s boutique specializing in concealed-carry fashion. Rebecca Anderson, the owner of the LovaMe brand, says that though she just opened, it was easy to see the difference in foot traffic. “I was surprised at how many people there were. It just seemed like people are really getting out and doing things!”
Upcoming Events
Shop Small might be over for the year, but it certainly won’t be the last chance to shop local for the holidays. Sapulpa Main Street has scheduled a series of events on Thursdays in December to bring people downtown for festivities, photos with Santa, and yes, more shopping. Those events are:
December 2nd—Downtown Sapulpa Scavenger Hunt: visit our downtown merchants to find the special Christmas ornament.
December 9th—Holiday Cookie Crawl: Celebrate the holiday season while shopping and collecting cookies! Cookie kits are on sale now at sapulpamainstreet.com.
December 16th—Holiday Cocoa Crawl: The last holiday event before Christmas; Collect your holiday mug, then visit participating stores to sample various warm holiday beverages!
For more information, visit sapulpamainstreet.com.
