It’s the gift-giving season and island retailers have noticed more holiday-minded shoppers buying gift certificates and items that can be shipped.
And many customers are making transactions with retailers by phone.
Kelly Kary, owner of Olive Oil Outpost, 401 Pine Ave., Anna Maria, has noticed a 30% increase in phone orders for items to be shipped or picked up curbside as compared to past years.
The shop still has plenty of in-person shoppers, Kary said Dec. 2, but more people are calling to have her assemble and ship gift baskets.
Most callers, she said, give her a budget and request a type of basket, trusting her to assemble the selections.
“We’ll ship anything from single bottles to full gourmet baskets,” Kary said. “But we won’t ship meats and cheeses,” because of the refrigeration required for those items.
Ten months into the COVID-19 pandemic locally, public health officials still recommend people avoid nonessential trips and gatherings.
Also, health officials recommend the use of face masks and social distancing, as the virus is transmitted mainly from person-to-person in close contact through respiratory droplets and also can be airborne.
The health recommendations, combined with a rise in positive tests and virus-related deaths throughout the country, are impacting the way consumers shop.
At Ginny’s and Jane E’s Cafe and Gift Store, 9807 Gulf Drive, Anna Maria, retail manager Amanda Foster has noticed more would-be customers poke their heads in to see how crowded the shop is before stepping in.
With tight aisles and small displays, there’s not a lot of room for social distancing. So people tend to visit the shop later in the day when it’s less busy, Foster said in a Dec. 3 phone interview with The Islander.
The pandemic seems to have positively impacted shoppers’ attitudes, Adina Dicus observed Dec. 2.
“I feel like more people are in the Christmas spirit this year. It just seems like people are trying to make everyone happy,” said Dicus, who owns Restless Natives in the Island Shopping Center at 5416 Marina Drive, Holmes Beach.
Shoppers seem to “try to be impactful in their shopping,” she said.
What’s selling at Restless Natives?
“Big wall art,” said Dicus, who attributes the sales to restless “people getting tired of the walls of their homes.”
In Bradenton Beach, Terrence Keith, owner of Back Alley Treasures, 108 Bridge St., said Dec. 4 that he hadn’t noticed a change in shopping trends, but he has been busy selling “local treasures” along with coffee, wine and craft beer.
“The only real change we’ve seen is just an increase in business in the past couple months as compared to this time last year,” Keith said.
The busiest holiday shopping days at Ginny’s and Jane E’s are the two days before Christmas, when the store sees an 80% spike in sales. Yet Foster said she has noticed a 25%-30% increase in advance gift certificate sales this year as compared to past years.
And, she said, most customers are buying gift certificates by phone and having them mailed.
However, for shoppers who want to buy their holiday gifts in person, island retailers are doing what they can to make the process safe — and special.
FYI: For those looking for dining establishments that serve on Christmas and New Year’s Eve, the chamber’s lists are posted at islander.org.