Downtown business' open doors on Sunday
Downtown business owners are trying to attract more attention to the heart of Mount Pleasant by extending their business hours through Sunday.
Co-owner of the Plate Boutique, a kitchen supply store, Kati Mora said she noticed a lot of customers were hanging around downtown and that a lot of stores were open on the weekends.
Instead of taking Sunday off, Mora wanted to be available to those customers.
Mora collaborated with Mount Pleasant's Downtown Development Director Michelle Sponseller to create Summer Sundays. Business hours vary depending on the store. The initiative is designed to drive more customer traffic downtown each weekend.
"I am always thinking of the costumer's needs as a business owner," Mora said. "I decided I wanted to help build a friendly and welcoming environment during the weekend, as well as the weekdays."
Mike Rowe, who works at Blue in the Face, a smoke shop, said the business has been open on Sunday since 1999 when they first opened.
"We get a decent amount of business on Sunday," Rowe said. "I can't see why it's a bad idea to have more shops open on Sunday."
In honor of Summer Sundays, Mora said she is trying to make shopping at her kitchen retail store more fun by creating creative deals. Her first Sunday open was May 31 and featured a cook book giveaway.
"Our first Sunday open was pretty slow, but thats because not a lot of customers knew we were open," Mora said. "The second Sunday we were open, we doubled the amount of customers. I'm hoping as word gets around more people will stop by."
Businesses like Art Reach of Mid Michigan are also offering their own deals. Art Reach manager Dianne Ward said the stores deals change every month.
"The idea of Summer Sundays came up in a downtown development meeting," Ward said. "All the business were willing to try it out to see how it affected sales. We did it to draw more attention downtown and get more foot traffic."
Downtown businesses offering Sunday hours are Art Reach of Mid Michigan, Blue Gator Sports Pub and Grill, Blue in the Face, Crème de la Crème, Downtown Discount, Greentree Grocery Co-op, Marty's Bar, Max and Emily's, Mountain Town Station, Painted Turtle, Pisanello's Pizza, the Plate Boutique, Mount Pleasant City Coffee and Stan's Restaurant.
