Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Andrea Morgan has a $100 budget and she needs make it stretch. She’s looking for tops, skirts and jewelry. At the 50th Annual Sidewalk Sale Thursday, she can find what she’s looking for.
More than 80 stores on Massachusetts Street will participate in the sale, some opening as early as 5 a.m.
Jane Pennington, director of Downtown Lawrence, Inc., said she thought the sale was originally planned as a way to clear out stockrooms and get ready for the return of students. Now, she said it was one of the biggest days of the year for the stores that participate.
“It’s become a real shot in the arm for everybody,” Pennington said. “It’s about making the most of one day as possible.”
The sale will be from sunrise to sunset, rain or shine. Businesses had to buy sidewalk permits for the day, and Pennington said she estimated last year there were between 10,000 and 15,000 people at the sale. She said the sidewalks would be really crowded.
Morgan, a senior from Kansas City, Kan., said she would head to the sale at about 11 a.m. after her classes end for the day. She said her strategy for the day was to head to the newly marked sale stuff first and then the already-marked sale items last.
“There’s not as good of stuff in the super-sale section,” she said.
Paul Davis, owner of Sunflower Outdoor & Bike Shop, 802 Massachusetts St., said he went through the items he had in the store’s warehouse to see what would be going on sale.
“We slash prices,” he said. “And usually there are things that are $10 and $20 that used to be $150.”
Davis said customers should be patient and grab something they liked right when they saw it.
He said customers usually lined up outside his store before it opens, and many times, they grab items that are being taken outside.
The store will have a former employee and mascot on a lifeguard chair outside its door telling people what the sales are just like last year.
“I know last year was a very successful day for us,” Davis said. “We tend to be one of the main destinations, if not the first stop.”
Rob Smith, co-owner of White Chocolate, 933 Massachusetts St., said his store would open at 7 a.m., and that it would be a day full of guaranteed foot traffic. He said the deals at White Chocolate would include lots of shoes and T-shirts.
Smith said he knew it would be a hot and humid day and that the store would have Red Bull and Monster energy drinks chilled outside for those who needed it.
Allison Yoder, a recent KU graduate from Lawrence, said she wouldn’t be hitting the sale until later in the day.
“I’d rather pay full price than go in a huge crowd and be hot,” she said.
Pennington said to get the best deals though, the earlier shoppers got out there, the better.
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