After a year of little shopping during the holiday season during the pandemic in 2020, small business owners in Athens said that Black Friday and Small Business Saturday this year has been positive.

And apparently, not even large-scale events could derail the trend. Greater Limestone County Chamber of Commerce President Pammie Jimmar said that after talking to many business owners, this year’s Iron Bowl didn’t seem to have a negative effect on overall business and foot traffic was definitely up from the 2020 holiday shopping season.

“I did hear, especially from businesses downtown, the foot traffic seemed to be from out-of-towners,” Jimmar said. “They haven’t pinpointed if it was maybe visitors were in town and wanted to get out and shop local, or if people got off the interstate and said, ‘huh, lets see what this town is all about.’”

Jimmar hopes to see the official reports from the Small Business Administration within the week, but said, “I didn’t hear anybody say that it was slow or anything. Everybody raved on it being amazing and it being the best Small Business Saturday they ever had.” She thought that one reason for the uptick in shopping this year was possibly shoppers feeling safer about getting out and about compared to last year.

Aubrey Hood at Driftwood Dragonfly was happy to see so many shoppers throughout the weekend. Although she saw a lull in the number of shoppers after Saturday’s Iron Bowl kickoff, she said, “More people were coming in a lot more than usual Saturday morning to get in some great shopping before the game. We had customers dressed in Alabama and Auburn gear so they were definitely here to support and then go support.”

Hood had her own theory regarding the increase in shopping.

“Last year, people didn’t know if they would still have a job the next week due to COVID,” she said. “People were maybe scared to spend because so much was still unknown. This year, people seem to feel more confident about the future.”

Brandi Griffin, owner at Boutique Bliss said, “It was absolutely amazing. It was just such a great turnout. I was worried because it was cold. The Iron Bowl was Saturday, but we still had a great turnout Saturday too. Athens people are very aware of the importance of shopping local. Its just a great town where everybody supports local businesses.”

Griffin said she saw many of regulars but also remembered helping one shopper from as far away as Kentucky.

M.E.W.S. owner Eileen Terry was impressed with the number of shoppers her business saw over the weekend. In particular, she noticed the number of shoppers driving to Athens from neighboring towns. “We pulled people from Florence, Haleyville, Huntsville and Gurley,” she said. “We also had people from Hartselle and Cullman. I am very fortunate to have the clientele that I have. My best advertisement is my customers. That’s how we get the amount of business that we get.”

The shops on and around the square saw a great surge in business from the Christmas Open House that carried over into Black Friday and Small Business Saturday. They are also looking forward to the potential boost from Thursday’s Athens Christmas Parade and next weekend’s Sippin’ Cider Festival.

“Some people chose to shop with us on Black Friday instead of shopping at some of the big stores. That makes us feel good,” said Pimentos owner Teresa Brodie. “COVID made people realize how important small businesses are.”