CLAREMORE, Okla. — Shoppers across Green Country are on the hunt for the perfect Christmas gifts. In Claremore, leaders are insisting on the importance of shopping locally while reminding people it can be done from the comfort of home, online. Downtown Claremore is packed with Christmas decorations, neighbors looking for Christmas gifts, and cars taking up nearly every parking space.
"This time of year, especially, we are really excited about people shopping locally," Ashley May, with the Claremore chamber said.
Downtown Claremore’s brick and mortar businesses are seeing plenty of foot traffic. Still, some are leaning on their online presence to attract customers.
"We see traffic. We don’t see a lot of purchases on our website," Cari Bohannan, owner of The District on Main said, "But a lot of customers look on our website and see what we have new, then they like to come into the store."
For the last eleven years, Bohannan has owned her boutique, selling women’s clothing, gift items, and some Oklahoma made products.
"Especially back during COVID time, when [businesses] couldn’t be open, to just walk-in traffic, a lot of them turned to the online arena," May said, "To make things easier for everyone. And a lot of them have stayed with that."
Bohannan jumped on the online bandwagon early ... just two years after opening her business.
Online customers of The District on Main are getting a double-dose of local shopping. Supporting the local business itself, and perhaps buying some of the local products that Bohannan sells. She says she’s sent things all across the united states.
"California, New York, Pennsylvania, all over," Bohannan said.
The District has wide-ranging impact, serving those online shoppers across the country, Route 66 tourists, and even, Bohannan says, an Australian customer who comes in every time she visits family in Claremore. Customers come from all different backgrounds, but their dollars all go toward the same benefits of shopping small.
"We donate to local charities, we donate to the schools, we try to give back as much as possible," Bohannan said.
Claremore Chamber leaders want to remind people of the Christmas parade happening the evening of Dec. 9. Some of 2 News Oklahoma's team members will be there walking along the route.
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