Clara owned the Christmas Shop, the one that was covered in ornaments for any theme you could imagine.It was the most popular store in town.Every visitor made a point to stop in for at least the obligatory souvenir to take home.The hope was that they'd love it so much; they'd order more online when they arrived home.
Eve returned with Clara.
"Thanks for coming," I said to her, grateful for any insight we could get into how the town ran before we arrived.Not everyone was happy that we were the new owners.They were worried we'd run the place into the ground, but at the same time, they wouldn't help us.
Clara was the one who was more open to working with us, probably because we were about the same age.She sat in a cushioned chair."I'm happy to help in any way I can, but I wasn't directly involved in programming."
Eve focused on her, her tablet ready to take notes."Do you have a sense of what worked and what didn't?"
Clara thought for a second and then said, "Santa visits are the biggest draw.The children stand in line to talk to him, and then the families will stop at one of the restaurants or shops afterward, bringing in business."
"Did you ever offer coupons or food in the shops to get people to come in?"Eve asked.
Clara frowned."What do you mean?"
"I read that one town hosts a hot-cocoa crawl, where customers could get hot chocolate and cookies at each shop."
Clara snapped her fingers."We could do a bingo card.They go into each store, ask questions about an item, and get the owner or worker to sign their card, and once it's filled, they win a prize which could be an ornament from my shop."
"I wonder if they'd just pop in to get their card signed, or would they linger and check out the shop," I said.
"I think that's one of those things you might have to try and see how it goes," Clara added."But some owners won't want to serve drinks or food.They won't want anyone to spill on their products."
Eve's shoulders lowered."That's a good point.We could set up outside the store, but the point is to get people into the shop."
"Each store could offer whatever they wanted, food or drink or even a small item from their store, a coupon," Clara said, thinking out loud.
Eve nodded, taking notes."That's not a bad idea."
"Would we still call it the cocoa crawl?"I asked.
"I think so.We'll make sure there's cookies and cocoa, even if the stores don't want to serve it," Clara said.
Eve's eyes brightened."We'll see if we can sell cups from one of the stores that could be refilled."
"I like the idea of involving the shop owners.Do you think we could hold a meeting and talk to them about what they're interested in doing?"I asked Clara.
"I'm not sure if everyone will want to participate," Clara said.
"We want to make this town a success.I wish they were on board with helping us," Eve grumbled, her voice lower.
I patted her hand."We knew it would take time to win everyone over."
Eve set her tablet down and focused on Clara."Do all the owners get along?"
Clara shook her head and laughed."Well, Bill at the Puzzle Piece isn't a fan of the new lingerie shop.He thinks the street should be family friendly."
Eve winced."That's a tough one, because we have a lot of couples who come here on their honeymoon or to get married.It goes nicely with our princess-for-a-day package where we offer spa services, makeup, and hair styling for the night of the ball.Men like to purchase their significant others something nice.But I can see Bill's point too."
Clara leaned forward."For the most part, everyone wants to see the town thrive.When the previous owners put the inn up for sale, we were worried that the new owner would kick us out and raze the place in favor of a modern resort.I think most are grateful that you want to revitalize the town and make it a success.The question is, can you do that?"
Eve and I exchanged a look.
"We want it to be a success.Natasha's always wanted to run a bed-and-breakfast, and I wanted to be a town event coordinator.I want to see this town come to life.We know we can draw people in during the holiday season, but what about the rest of the year?"Eve said, her voice picking up speed as she talked.
Clara nodded."We get some traffic from visitors to the inn.Local traffic dies down during the summer though."
"We're starting with fall, so we're hitting the ground running in the busy season.Then we'll have time to figure out the offseason," I said to soothe Eve.She had a tendency to look too far into the future.
