FLORENCE — Below-freezing temperatures didn’t keep people from filling Florence shops during Small Business Saturday.
Kim Norris of Cañon City said she always makes a trip to Florence before Christmas.
“And I try to do the Small Business Saturday shopping to support local businesses,” she said. “I’m glad the weather cleared up enough so we could get out and do this.”
Norris has bought antiques ever since she was a little girl in Chicago.
“It’s kind of a family tradition, and we love to find stuff for each other. You never know what you are going to find,” Norris said. “It’s like a treasure hunt.”
She said she discovered some fantastic items for her family.
“I found some little goodies for my mom because she has not room for anything except for little goodies,” Norris said. “I get my sister a lot of ornaments from Fox Den (of Antiquity) because she has really unique stuff there, so I have a bag full of those.”
Robyn Manda made a visit to Florence from Ohio to visit family.
“This is the antique area,” she said. “It’s nice. I like smaller towns like this. We have a few in Ohio, but you have to travel normally to get to them.”
She said she went shopping Saturday to search for some gifts and to get out of the house.
“I got a couple of things for some projects. And she (a family member) bought me this awesome hat,” Manda said, pointing to a silver hat. “It’s very old. I was trying to bargain her down as low as possible for a deal.
“Now we are going to get something hot to drink and continue on.”
Laurie Aves, owner of The Mezzanine Antiques and Collectibles, LLC, said many people showed up for Small Business Saturday.
“Well, the more money we can keep away from the malls, the better chance we have of being open when the people want to come next year,” Aves said. “Small businesses gives you a chance for a unique gift for somebody, rather than one that there’s 100,000 of. So that’s always special to open something that’s been purchased just for you.”
She said downtown Florence stores will have a Christmas Open House from 5 to 8 p.m. Dec. 11.
“Some of the stores will have music,” Aves said. “It will be a nice evening to come out and shop.”
Sarah Rose: 719-276-7648, roses@canoncitydailyrecord.com
