With the holidays looming, State Street businesses and the City of Madison have begun preparations in anticipation for what they hope will be a brighter shopping season than last year's.
Susan Schmitz, president of Downtown Madison, Inc., said the city has completed seasonal provisions such as filling empty planters with evergreens and holly berries, making sure State Street businesses have sufficient supplies of downtown maps and hanging snowflake decorations.
The Business Improvement District, a five-year-old organization created to provide services the city cannot, is handling many of the holiday accommodations.
Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said the organization will provide horse-drawn hayrides, caroling and a visit from Santa Claus.
In past years Madison Gas and Electric hung decorations and lights throughout downtown, but a manpower shortage linked to the Florida hurricanes prevented them from doing so this year.
\MG&E just did not have the manpower to get up in those cherry pickers and put all the lights up,"" said Schmitz. ""That's a huge job. We knew that ahead of time and so we just purchased more snowflakes and the parks department ... took care of those.""
Schmitz said 2004 has been a good year for downtown businesses and she expects customers to return for the Christmas shopping season.
""There's been an awful lot of really positive activity downtown with the anticipation of Overture and with Overture opening,"" she said.
Sandy Torkildson, president of the Greater State Street Business Association and owner of A Room of One's Own, 307 W. Johnson St., said she is cautiously optimistic.
""Most of the people I've talked to this year say things are a little bit better than last year,"" she said.
Torkildson said that while retailers no longer depend on Christmas for a successful year, business owners do expect to see a 25 to 30 percent increase over typical winter months.
She added it is important for area residents to consider local businesses for their holiday shopping needs.
""You really have a lot of power to support [the downtown area] and to make it what you would like to see it be,"" Torkildson said.
