Small businesses gear up for holiday season

By Samantha Murphy and Desiree Wiley
BengalNews Reporters
 With Christmas right around the corner, small businesses on the West Side are gearing up for their busiest time of year. Businesses such as West Side Stories, Guercio & Sons Inc., Krudmart and the West Side Bazaar are a just few of the small businesses hoping to make big money this year.
 According to American Research Group Inc. consumers anticipate spending $646 on gifts this holiday.  However, 37 percent of those shoppers will be doing so online. Still, local businesses remain very optimistic and have been hard at work attracting customers.
 With the birth of the company in 2002, Krudmart is enjoying its success. Its location at 212 Grant St., has been up and running for two years. Krudmart’s owner and employees are dedicated to offering creative and revolutionary street wear items at affordable prices.
 Brands such as 10 Deep, ArtistiCreation, Acapulco Gold, Black Scale and many more can be found 15 percent to 50 percent off during the holiday season. Employees plan to see a full store throughout the month.
 “Business picks up during the holiday season, especially black Friday,” said Richard Rouse, boutique manager, “people really like to get into the fashion fall wear.”
 This fashion outlet is excited to introduce another big name to their store, the Billionaire Boys Club. Shoppers have already cleared out some of the inventory.
 “This is a unisex boutique, but the female clothes that we have are pretty much sold out,” said Rouse, “now we’re looking forward to get more in.”
 Krudmart isn’t the only local business thriving during this holiday rush. Just a few doors down at 242 Grant St., the West Side Bazaar is also preparing for the influx of customers.
 “Next week we have many more things coming in because we have more customers coming in for the holiday season,” said Novi Pulach, a vendor at the bazaar from Indonesia.

The bazaar has also teamed up with ZGM Fine Arts Gallery to offer a global market of products. Entrepreneurs from Indonesia, Nepal, Africa, Peru and others sell items from their native lands- and food too.
 “We have some food from Peru, like cookies and potatoes,” said Paluch. “It is really good food.”
 After satisfying your appetite, you can browse the booths of many vendors.
 “We have jewelry and carvings from all the different countries,” said Paluch, “and for December we are giving 10 percent off.”
 Shoppers can even have their purchases gift-wrapped.
 Guercio & Sons Inc., located at 250 Grant St., has been providing the West Side with local, quality produce and groceries since it’s opening in 1961. Like any other retail store, Guercio’s is also already seeing an increase in sales.
 Tom Guercio, treasurer of Guercio’s, said, “We get much busier with the holidays, especially Christmas and New Year’s.”
 Unlike other small businesses, Guercio is not intimidated by the growing popularity of huge grocery chains.
 “We have our own clientele and we get a lot of wholesale from the restaurants, so we’re not worried about competition,” he said.
 West Side Stories, located at 205 Grant St., just opened its doors on July 15, so owner Joe Petri isn’t expecting a big holiday rush.
 “I’m not expecting a huge rush of Christmas shoppers buying used books,” Petri said. “The bulk of our business is from people who are out shopping for themselves, buying used books.”
 But Petri is still working on ways to get more holiday shoppers into the store.
 “We do have some other things, gift certificates, gift item type things like hand made journals and also some jewelry,” he said, “so we do have some things that will appeal to Christmas shoppers.”
 West Side Stories is also offering a special book bargain: If you purchase a $20 gift certificate you will receive an additional $5 gift certificate for free.
 But making money isn’t Petri’s biggest holiday concern. West Side Stories is also hoping to contribute to the revival of the West Side community.
 “We want to make books cheap and accessible to everyone and we want to help the neighborhood,” he said. “I feel like putting your money into the West Side is helping what has already been a great revitalization. We’re doing our little bit to help.”