Second annual Sip & Shop a success

Downtown Washington saw an influx of people last night, due in part to the success of Main Street Washington's second annual Sip & Shop, Thursday, Sept. 27.

Sarah Grunewaldt, executive director of Main Street Washington, said last year's event hosted around 285 people and this year she was hoping to reach as many as 400. She said she expected the second year to be more successful because participants effectively spread the word about the event, which showed in the number of preorders which jumped from four last year to 70 this year.

'I've seen a lot of the same faces, which is great,” she said. 'But we've had a lot from outside of our community like Coralville, Tiffin, Riverside and Kalona.”

The Sip & Shop event is popular among the 54 Main Street Communities in the state of Iowa. Grunewaldt said other communities often do similar events, but bringing night life to Washington and promoting the downtown is her personal goal for the evening.

She feels that the encouragement of getting people downtown and entering businesses helps the shops as well because it promotes a sales increase all year. She said sales do tend to increase on the evening of the event, and also after, because people see things in the shops, make a mental note and come back for them to give as Christmas presents or just to visit the downtown area once more.

All of the wines available for sampling were available for purchase from the vendor or at Hy-Vee Wine and Spirits. She says giving the public a reason to be downtown and promote the area is the mission of Main Street Washington. 'It's the perfect Thursday night to explore downtown, check out the stores and check out the market,” she said. 'We're all about promoting local.”

Karen Kuhlman, Manager at Don's Jewelry, echoed that sentiment and said she definitely sees a traffic increase and sales increase in the shop during the event. Don's participated for the second year in a row this year and sees it as a positive opportunity for people to come out and explore the area and visit locations they would not normally enter. 'It's a great opportunity for us to talk with people and some people we're filling out their wish lists for Christmastime, so it's a good event that we look forward to,” she said.

Next door at Brown's Shoe Fit, Shanna Kellor, a tasting representative from Ardon Creek Vineyards in Letts, provided guests with samples as they browsed the store. Ardon Creek was one of 12 wineries present at last night's event. Kellor herself is from Lone Tree and was happy to be in another small community and seeing people come together to support local business. 'I think that the whole camaraderie of small towns makes people aware of what's out there, what choices they have and gives the opportunity to support small business,” she said.