Holiday shopping brings an early economic boost to Martin
MARTIN, Tenn. — It‘s that time of year again, and Christmas shopping has officially begun in Martin with the city‘s 10th Annual Preview to Christmas weekend. “Economically it kind of sets the tone for the year, because, obviously, December is a huge shopping month and we really try to push to put your money local, to shop local, and it really helps our businesses a lot,” Martin Economic Development assistant Camille Noe said. Around 20 downtown Martin businesses participate in the Preview to Christmas weekend, and many businesses said this is their biggest event of the year. “It’s just huge for me every year and every year it seems to get better because it grows and more and more people are excited about it and they are excited about Martin. They’re excited about all the unique shops like mine and they want to come and see what we are doing different,” Vicki White of Vicki‘s Designer‘s Touch said. Claire Wade opened her boutique, Claire and Schuster‘s Interior Designs, on this very weekend 16 years ago because she said it was the perfect time to show off what she has to offer. “We had a fantastic turnout this weekend. The community really does come together to support us and business has definitely been up,” Wade said. And White says she loves being able to share her gift. “I love that we do this every year because downtown it not only touches the people in our town but it goes to the surrounding towns,” she said. Mayor Randy Brundige said this weekend brings at least a 10-15% increase to the downtown area.
