Revenue generated, new customers nurtured

More than 80 stores participated in Cedarhurst’s 27th annual Sidewalk Sale along Central and Cedarhurst avenues from July 29 through 31 and Aug. 2. For the third year in a row, the sale included Sunday.
The idea for the sale originated in the late 1980s when Jerry Cohen, owner of the women’s accessories store, Trees, passed through a small upstate community near Kingston, and took in a sidewalk sale. He thought Cedarhurst should have one, and the rest is history.
Miriam Dure, a Woodmere resident and owner of Savvy Sheek, a women’s clothing boutique on Cedarhurst Avenue, expressed her excitement generated by participating in the sale for the first time. “My whole store is on sale,” she said. “I have a buy one, get one for 50 percent off deal going on. Clothing is my big seller, though I am also starting to run low on jewelry.”
Established stores such as Morton’s Army-Navy have participated in the sale “since the get go,” said owner Steve Silverman. Morton’s most popular items for sale are the men’s pants for $9.99 and North Face fleeces.
“Once a year, we have a huge sale on the fleeces,” he said. “People jump on that. This is our time to switch our merchandise over to new and seasonal items. It’s a great way for people to pick up new stuff.” He added that on the weekdays during the sale, his store sees generally five to six times more shoppers than they normally would.
Also on Central Avenue at A Little Personalized, Lisa Hoffman, co-owner, said their best sellers were their $100 blankets on sale. “We have 25 percent off personalized items in our store, and a buy one, get one 40 percent off,” she said. “After the sale is over, we are looking forward to opening up another [location] around the corner, which will only be for hosting sewing classes there. Every year, we participate to get rid of our inventory.”