Downtown St. Joseph is rolling out the deals this weekend with the return of the Love Local Sidewalk Sales.
St. Joe Today is inviting the community to shop local during the event, happening this Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. St. Joe Today executive director Paul Knapp says shoppers can explore outdoor displays and sales from more than a dozen participating businesses. He says it’s an idea that’s been done before, and it’s time to bring it back.
“The intention years and years and years ago was to set local businesses up in downtown to do sidewalk sales. That drifted away and it was just an opportunity for us to market downtown and different specials and sales that were going on. But this year, for the first year in a long time, we’re bringing sidewalk sales back and we’ll see how it goes.”
Knapp says it was downtown business owner who made the suggestion.
“It was actually one of the downtown business owners came to us with an idea for something that we could do in order to kind of collaborate with local businesses. And so we worked it out with her and some of her connections downtown to collaborate around Love Local Weekend.”
Organizers say it’s a great way to rediscover downtown shops, enjoy local restaurants, and support small businesses that make downtown St. Joe special.
The Love Local Sidewalk Sales run August 15 and 16. Other events: On Friday evening, the Municipal Band Jazz Band will perform a free concert at the John E.N. Howard Bandshell from 7 to 8 p.m. Saturday’s Farmers Market takes place from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Lake Bluff Park, alongside the Lake Bluff Artisan Fair. Visitors can also tour the St. Joseph Lighthouse on Saturday, with free access to the first floor and an opportunity to climb to the top for a five-dollar fee.
Full details are available at stjoetoday.com/lovelocal.
