GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Earlier this week a Grand Rapids business shared online that holiday sales are lagging compared to last year, and they are not alone.
Customers were ready to shop when Rebel opened Friday morning in Eastown.
This was good news for Co-Owner Dan Boyles, who recently posted that his holiday sales were down 40 percent from last year at this time.
Boyles said, “It's been a tricky year. We went into this year knowing that, you know, the economy has been struggling. Everyone doesn't have as much money to spend.”
After he went public with the store’s struggles, he realized other stores were also behind in sales.
“Retailers from all over the country and all over our neighborhood were saying, 'Oh my gosh, thank you so much for saying this out loud,” said Boyles.
That includes local shops like Oh, Hello Paper & Gifts downtown.
“As of today, sales are down 10% from last year,” said Co-Owner Kayla Benda.
She doesn’t know why sales have been lagging.
“We've collected such amazing, unique products, and then to feel like it's not bringing people in but to know that other people are experiencing that same thing, that it feels a little bit better. It doesn't make it better, but at least we know that we're not alone,” said Benda.
The Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce says they started seeing local stores struggle after the pandemic because people were shopping online more.
Claire Colley from the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce said, “Across the board, we are seeing quite a few of our small businesses struggle, but we are also seeing our community come together and help lift them up. We have been seeing a lot of social media posts from small businesses that have been struggling and saying, 'Hey, we kind of need a little bit of help,' and the community has delivered.”
Both Rebel and Oh, Hello Paper & Gifts say there are still a lot of days left in the holiday shopping season.
Benda said, “My hope is that they're just taking their time, they're building their list, and they're still going to come out. I got to keep that optimism."
They're hoping the trend will turn around.
“Personally, I've committed to all of my Christmas and holiday shopping is going to be done in all of my favorite little local boutiques. This is going to be a no-Amazon Christmas for me, even though that means a little bit more stress; I just think it's the right thing to do,” said Boyles.
If you are looking to shop small, there are some holiday shopping events coming up. Small Business Saturday is on Nov. 30. Rebel will be part of the Uptown Shop Hop on Dec. 5 and Oh, Hello will be holding a holiday market on Dec. 7.
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