News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Snow meant visitors, visitors meant a pretty good holiday period for Sisters businesses.
It's all a matter of timing. A good snowfall at the right time makes a big difference in the Sisters economy.
This year, everything lined up perfectly. Snow fell in prodigious quantities right in time for Christmas, and cold temperatures ensured that it stuck around. Folks turned out in big numbers to ski and enjoy other winter recreation (see related story, page 3) and that translated into a brisk holiday-period trade for many local businesses.
"It was awesome," said Jeff McDonald, manager of Ray's Food Place. "One of the best Christmas-New Year's two-and-a-half weeks ever. I hope everybody else felt that.
"It was just skier after skier after skier in here all week long."
Brad Boyd, owner-operator of Eurosports, reported an excellent holiday period driven by equipment rentals and associated winter recreation purchases.
"We're three times busier than we were last winter when there was no snow," he told The Nugget. "There were times ... when we had three guys (working) and we didn't get lunch till 3 p.m."
The delicate alchemy of a good holiday season requires snow and the influx of visitors celebrating with family to arrive at the same time. And, Boyd said, winter has to be right outside the window to inspire folks to get out and play.
"There has to be snow in town," he said.
For downtown retailers, the season was good enough, though not as booming as it was for those who catered directly to the ski/winter recreation crowd.
Christmas shopping was perhaps a little slow.
"Pre-Christmas I thought was a very slow customer count," said Chris Wilder, proprietor of Sisters Log Furniture. "Post-Christmas was really good all the way through New Year's. Best New Year's I've ever had. Foot traffic was wonderful."
Wilder opined that Christmas shopping in Sisters has never been all that strong. He'd like to see the retail community strive to change that in years to come. He said "we've got lots of opportunities as a community" to enhance the pre-Christmas experience.
John Leavitt has seen dozens of holiday seasons come and go. This one rated about average.
"It was OK," he said. "It started slow and got better. The last half of the month (of December) was good."
He said it's hard to gauge whether the snow had any beneficial impact on his business.
"I don't know if it did or not, but it brought people over skiing, that's for sure," he said.
His traditional mainstays came through as usual this year.
"Overall, everything did pretty well. We sold a lot of boots of course. Boots and Pendleton blankets make pretty good gifts."
Rosie Horton of Common Threads said the season "was alright." Like other retailers, she sees more activity in the post-Christmas week.
"Traditionally, the after-Christmas-to-New Year is a little better," she said.
Snow doesn't have a direct effect on her business, but lack of it is certainly noticeable. Activity in the snow was "way better than the rain last year."
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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