Starting this month downtown Columbus businesses are staying open until 7 p.m. on the first Thursday of each month.
Main Street Columbus made the announcement Monday. The goal of “Shopping’s Never Been So Sweet” is simple: to encourage people to shop locally, said Barbara Bigelow, executive director of Main Street Columbus.
Most downtown businesses typically close at 5 p.m.
Margie Johnson, a business expert who operates a Virginia-based retail research firm, believes downtown shops will benefit from keeping the doors open longer. Retail studies show, she said, that night shopping hours tend to be more profitable than daytime shopping hours.
Johnson said the 9-to-5 hours most downtown businesses operate on grew out of a period in history when, simply put, dad went to work and mom stayed home and was able to go shopping during the day.
“It’s a different world today,” Johnson said, explaining that most households operate on dual incomes now.
Also, most national stores stay open into the night. That, coupled with 24/7 online shopping, means local businesses need to extend their hours to compete, she said.
The downtown initiative begins Thursday, which Bigelow noted is one week prior to Valentine’s Day.
In the past, several downtown merchants have stayed open late on the first Thursday each month. Bigelow said more businesses are joining the push “to make downtown shopping even better.”
Johnson said a collaborative effort between downtown businesses shows a community retailers are not competing against one another, but creating a welcoming atmosphere. It helps displace the notion that downtown is dead after 5 p.m., she said.
“Hats off to Columbus,” Johnson said.
William Browning was managing editor for The Dispatch until June 2016.
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