Small businesses offer shopping alternative

By Michael Loffredo
Bengal News West Reporter

Oh the holiday shopping season is upon us.

Long lines at the most popular stores.

Great deals that even Santa couldn’t make up.

The most popular products fly off the shelves and your wallet takes a hit.

What if there was a way to shop in a quiet, elegant, unique store without all of the hustle and bustle? —Oh wait, there is!

The boutique crawl is just one of the events throughout the year that helps the many small businesses of the Elmwood Village thrive.

The boutique crawl has “helped promote the Elmwood Village as a premier stop for holiday shopping,” said Carly Battin, executive organizer for the event.  “The crawl gives customers a better shopping experience and helps them get away from the big name stores. Through the event, each and every participant is helping small business success in Buffalo.”

            The third annual Elmwood Boutique Crawl is set to take place on Nov. 29 and stretches across the entire Elmwood Village. Four stores in particular appreciate all of the support they receive from Elmwood Village consumers as the holidays create a nice little buzz in the area.

Joe Maniaci, owner of Allentown Music, on shopping locally:

            “People are finally getting a hang of shopping locally,” said Stephanie Robb, owner of Turnstyle Designs located on Ashland Avenue in Buffalo.   “Customers that shop locally are keeping their dollar within the vicinities.”

            Robb also owns Wild Things Boutique, which is located on Lexington Avenue,  not far from Turnstyle. In Wild Things, Robb houses numerous amounts of jewelry designed by local artists.

            Robb’s philosophy of small business is pretty much every owner’s opinion throughout the village. These boutiques may only see 20 customers a week, but there is a reason why these customers choose these small boutiques instead of Macy’s or other big box stores; they are guaranteed to have something that you’ll fall in love with. 

            “Turnstyles has things that others don’t have,” said customer Jackie Blanco. “I know no one else will have it.”

            That is the exact point that Elmwood Village vendors are trying to draw. The service and products in these small stores and boutiques are nearly impossible to come by at a mall or a big name brand store.

            Siobhan Taylor, owner of Ms. Eye Candy Boutique, located on West Utica Street, carries designs from artists from the West Coast. She caters to customers between 20 and 50 years old and believes that small businesses are a great place to shop.

Siobhan Taylor, owner of Ms. Eye Candy Boutique

            “Being a resident of Allentown I have always committed to shopping in the Elmwood Village,” said Taylor. “It is nice to get different things as well as help other peoples businesses. We have a cool little area.”

            Taylor puts the nail in the coffin when defining small business.  
            “Yes, you don’t hear the name first like most do when it comes to a store in the mall, but once you visit and shop in boutiques, you get a different feel. You get to help a community and you get to own something unique in style,” said Taylor.

            Many stores in the village  highlight the Queen City in posters, postcards, clothing of all different kinds, and replicas.

            Joe Cascio,  owner of PosterArt USA located on the corner of Elmwood Avenue and Bird Avenue, believes that small business is great and defines the Elmwood Village.

            “Small business means a lot to this city,” said Cascio. “These businesses are very important to this city’s growth.”

            PosterArt carries the famous Buffalo sports teams t-shirt designs, the “Fred-Ex” shirt, for example, which is designed after Buffalo Bills running back Fred Jackson and can only be found online. Cascio compiles all of what Buffalo has to offer into one store.

            Making your way through the Elmwood Village, the storefronts are mostly clean with a classic design. Not at Allentown Music. In this storefront, located on Elmwood Avenue near Forest Avenue, old guitars screwed onto the facade are one of the many things that catch the average passerby’s eye.

           

Joe Maniaci, owner of Allentown Music

Joe Maniaci, owner of Allentown Music believes in small business and the Elmwood Village in a whole.

            “Elmwood’s small business owners are all people just like myself. People are just trying to make a living,” said Maniaci. “It is just that personal touch within the village that you wont get anywhere else. Small businesses help give a unique experience that you will never forget.

            With small business Saturday coming up following Thanksgiving, all of these featured shops and boutiques, as well as many other shops in the Elmwood village, are expecting higher numbers, more foot traffic, and a lot of sales.

            “About 40 percent of our year is done during the holiday shopping season,” said Robb.