VIDEO TRANSCRIPT: Local Businesses Prepare For Holiday Shoppers
Kara O’Connor: It’s a super exciting time of the year. It’s a very big time for retail. We are relatively young, but we did have our first holiday season last year. So we’re looking for substantial growth from last year’s time. For all businesses in local retail, this is our time of the year.
Nico Horning: Kara O’Connor is the owner of one of downtown Syracuse’s local businesses, Kara Anne. The boutique store has been open for just over a year and is forecasting an improved holiday season to their in-person experience, despite some worries about increased shipping costs, inflation, tariff concerns and overall economic uncertainty.
O’Connor: There’s definitely some nervous feeling in regards to it. When it comes to looking into the future and what you’re buying in, you have to pay close attention. It changes all the time.
Horning: Good news for local businesses comes after Black Friday retail sales in the U.S. were up over 4% compared to last year excluding autos. That includes in-store and online purchases according to Mastercard. For in-store specifically, all major areas experienced an increase.
Horning: Local boutique stores like Kara Anne are navigating shoppers’ decisions to move online instead of going in-person even five years after COVID. But O’Connor says it’s that in-person validity that keeps customers coming back to their stores.
O’Connor: There’s a large number of people that still want to come in and have that personal approach. They also want to feel the materials, try things on. I’m a huge online shopper. Everybody is. It’s the world we live in. But say, you’re invited last minute to somebody’s house for dinner. You need a hostess gift. If there’s a birthday party and you didn’t order something for it, you need to find that perfect gift for somebody.
Horning: With strong signs from Black Friday pointing in the right direction for holiday shopping, O’Connor is optimistic.
O’Connor: I’m hoping this holiday season helps these local businesses get back to where they once were.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) – Shoppers and local businesses alike are gearing up for the holiday season.
Kara Anne, a boutique store in downtown Syracuse, has been open for just over a year and is expecting a busier period than last year.
“It’s a super exciting time of the year,” said Kara Anne’s owner Kara O’Connor. “It’s a very big time for retail. We are relatively young, but we did have our first holiday season last year. So we’re looking for substantial growth from last year’s time. For all businesses in local retail, this is our time of the year.”
The worries for local businesses revolve around increased shipping costs, inflation, tariff concerns and overall economic uncertainty.
“There’s definitely some nervous feeling in regards to it,” said O’Connor. “When it comes to looking into the future and what you’re buying in, you have to pay close attention. It changes all the time.
Good news for local businesses comes after Black Friday retail sales in the United States were up 4.1% compared to last year, excluding autos. That includes in-store and online purchases, according to Mastercard. For in-store specifically, all major areas saw an increase in sales. However, Adobe Analytics shows us that U.S. shoppers spent a record $11.8 billion online which is up more than 9% from 2024.
Despite the record numbers and influx of online shoppers in the last several years, O’Connor feels that customers still want that in-person validity and personal shopping experience, which is what keeps them visiting stores.
“There’s a large number of people that still want to come in and have that personal approach,” said O’Connor. “They also want to feel the materials, try things on. I’m a huge online shopper. Everybody is. It’s the world we live in. But say, you’re invited last minute to somebody’s house for dinner. You need a hostess gift. If there’s a birthday party and you didn’t order something for it, you need to find that perfect gift for somebody.”
If this year’s Black Friday is any indication of the way people are shopping heading into the holiday season, O’Connor remains optimistic.
“I’m hoping this holiday season helps these local businesses get back to where they once were,” said O’Connor.