Tipp City downtown merchants were overwhelmingly delighted with the busy foot traffic and sales during the annual Yuletide Winter’s Gathering weekend. The majority of merchants reported increases compared to last year, a few saw about the same activity, and at least one experienced a decrease. But all are looking forward to next year’s event. Here are a few comments from some of the merchants:

Pam, who works for Jessica Echols at Always Blooming, said, “We had a marvelous weekend. We couldn’t have been more pleased with the amount of people who came into the store. We sold mostly plants but also a few Christmas cactuses that went right away. We dedicated our decorations this year to Christmas trees, and we sold all varieties of Christmas trees, the small, 18” variety. We had more business than we’ve had in a long, long time. It was great!”

Leslie Budding of Living Simply Soap explained, “We had a wonderful weekend, record crowds on Saturday. We did just great! Everyone was having fun, loved the rides outside, the coffee shops, and restaurant. Our shop was jam-packed full almost all day long. We were really happy on Sunday that the crowds were out even though there was somewhat bad weather.” Molly, who worked Sunday, said, “Great turnout, great people. People loved the food trucks and horse drawn carriage; they were full all day.”

Amanda Carl from Browse Awhile Books noted that, “Friday and Saturday were busier than previous years, and Sunday was a little slower than normal, probably due to the weather. We had our usual two authors in selling books, and they did great. People really enjoyed having them in here. It was a great weekend, better than last year. We’re looking forward to next year.”

Allison Shoup at Topsy Turvy Toys said, “This year’s Yuletide Gathering was fantastic. We had a lot of people coming in, going out, buying lots of things. We had to restock a lot of our shelves. We had people asking for things at other stores, so we told them we could order them. In comparison to last year, we did pretty well, considering our downsizing. As much as we did, I’d say we performed just as well if not better. Yeah, we definitely had a good outcome. It was lots of fun.”

And finally, Jessica Sergent, owner of Bella Gray Market explained, “We definitely did very well last weekend. I would say it was better than last year for us, probably due to moving to Main St from Second St. in July. We’ve had more foot traffic since we moved. We had a great weekend. I’d say Saturday was our busiest day.”

So, Yuletide Winter’s Gathering, the downtown Tipp merchants have definitely punched your ticket for next year!