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CROTON-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. Santa Claus exchanged his usual sleigh for a fire engine, as he drove down Riverside Avenue visiting a variety of shops along the way. The engine dropped Claus off at Groovy on Grand, where dozens gathered to drink hot chocolate and carol.
Its got to start out small, said Suzanne Welch, member of the Croton Business Council, and arm of the Hudson Valley Gateway Chamber of Commerce. Were trying to generate some traffic up here, she said about the Harmon business district in Croton.
Having St. Nick visit the village and its shops is not specifically aimed at promoting businesses, but Village Trustee Greg Schmidt, says anything the village can do to bring people out of their homes is good for the economy.
Anything we can do to get people out is good, said Village Trustee, Greg Schmidt, its trying to build an event, like Summerfest, he said about the huge block party the village has thrown every year for decades.
Claus visited some of the Harmon restaurants, like Mex-to-Go, and Umami Café, and went on to visit retail shops in the upper village. Lisa Parmeggia, co-owner of Groovy on Grand said having Santa was a fun community event. Groovy on Grand decorated and lit a Christmas tree in the grassy lot next door, where Santa visited with children.
Parmeggia said small businesses will lose some customers to the big box stores during the holiday season, but that big box stores do not offer the selection of unique merchandise that small businesses do.
We do have certain customers that want to support local businesses, she said, We try to be really price conscious, and we try to keep the price down as much as possible. Its the first thing on our minds when were buying.
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