Harlem kicked off the holiday season with encouragement to shop locally on Saturday morning.
Mayor Roxanne Whitaker, accompanied by Columbia County Chamber of Commerce CEO Russell Lahodny, publicly declared Nov. 25, 2023 Small Business Saturday in Harlem before the city’s Christmas tree in the heart of downtown.
Taylor Crozier of the Boutique at Blush, Tara McNaylor of Keller Williams and McNaylor Realty and Shann Lee of Harlem Java House offered their gratitude to the city and the chamber for the acknowledgement, and told visitors about discounts and promotions.
Harlem Java House even became a one-stop shop for shoppers to meet new vendors.
“Since it’s Small Business Saturday, we asked them by friend to set up a table each, so that they can interact with the customers or bring more business,” said Sang Lee, who, with his wife Shann Lee, bought the café and began managing it in September.
All the small business owners camped inside the shop were Harlem artisans, whose wares are usually displayed for sale throughout the coffeehouse year-round.
“It was a really good traffic day,” said Janine Baxley, who has sold her handmade jewelry through her business Splendor and Grace from Harlem for about two years, mostly at other events such as the Laurel & Hardy Festival.
Lee noted the boost in traffic that morning, drawing curious customers to order more coffee as they explored what the merchants had to offer.
“There was probably a line out the door for like three hours or more,” said former owner Deborah Brawner, who displayed works from her new enterprise, Brawner Art. Her offerings range from acrylic, oil and watercolor pieces to ornaments to paint kits of her own creation.
The Small Business Saturday activities were in anticipation of the city’s upcoming Christmas Festival on Dec. 9, which is to entail its own gathering of vendors, a parade and the lighting of the Christmas tree downtown.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter covering business for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
