Local business owners say they're ready for a month of busy weekends ahead
Sep. 6—With different weekend activities and festivals throughout September, Downtown St. Joseph business owners are hoping to see some new traffic.
One local shop owner said Downtown hasn't seen as many customers lately.
"I think it's vacations, school supplies, groceries have gone up and just the cost of living has gone up," said Diane Cudworth, the owner of Downtown Frames.
Cudworth said she's hopeful that events like St. Joseph's Pride festival, the Celtic festival and the Southside Fall Festival will help bring some foot traffic Downtown.
"It brings people Downtown, some people just don't even know what all we have to offer Downtown, and it's a lot," Cudworth said.
Wendy Lilly is the executive director of the St. Joseph Downtown Association. She also owns both Schweetz Candy Co. and Unique Unicorn along Francis Street.
"Our hope and intention is that, with bringing different groups Downtown, every festival has its clientele," Lilly said. "Maybe some people who haven't been here before to Downtown or out of town, you know, they're coming in for it, we're hoping that they'll explore Downtown."
Both Lilly and Cudworth said they're each contributing some fun things for visitors to take part in, whether they're attending a festival or not.
"What we're doing is first Saturdays as well, so we have Pride going on from 10 to 6 and then in the Unique Unicorn, we're doing a Taylor Swift event," Lilly said. "So you can make bracelets and plant a plant, we're going to have different things going on."
"I'm doing create-a-craft on Saturdays, so you can come in, it's free," said Cudworth. "You just come in, have a good time and make something fun."
The St. Joe Pride Festival will kick off a month full of busy weekends for the St. Joseph Downtown Association. It begins Friday from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. and continues Saturday from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Pride will be followed by the Celtic Street Faire, Southside Fall Festival and the Bluegrass Battles Hunger Music Festival.