Clinton merchants’ ‘Sweetheart Sale’ pulls in customers

February 17, 2021 by G. Chambers Williams III

Clinton’s downtown merchants played host to plenty of customers on Saturday (Feb. 13) as they conducted their Sweetheart Sale to celebrate Valentine’s Day.

“We’ve had a steady stream of people all day, even with the cold weather,” Mollie Farrar, manager of Hoskins in the Flat on Market Street, said in the early afternoon.

“The weather hasn’t deterred people at all,” she said. “But we do wish we could have had a food truck here.”

Because of COVID-19 precautions, there were no street vendors or food trucks, and the city would not allow Market Street to be shut down for the day, said Donna Raines, operator of Burrville antiques on Market Street and president of the Historic Downtown Clinton Merchants Association, which sponsored the sale day.

But even though it was in the mid-40s outside, no rain materialized during the day, and the street was busy with downtown visitors, and parking spaces were hard to find.

“We try to remind people we have plenty of parking behind our store,” Farrar said.

Kathie Creasey, the new owner of Granny’s Attic at 341 Market St. also reported brisk traffic for the special sale day.

“We’ve had people coming in checking us out all day,” she said about mid-afternoon. “It’s been a good turnout.”

Creasey said she took over as owner of Granny’s Attic on Feb. 1 after working in the store since 2005, including serving as manager since about 2015.

Farrar said downtown merchants are now planning for a “fundraiser for the arts” in their stores for Saturday, April 10, during which local artists will have some of their work displayed in downtown store windows.