Updated: 12/28/2008 8:14:55 PM
Downtown retailers in Knoxville hoped Christmas in the City and activities related to it would bring more business to the area despite the tough economy. Grandmother Gail Lay wanted to end her family's Christmas vacation with a trip to Market Square.
Getting five kids out on the ice isn't easy, but Lay says it's worth the trouble.
"I make the most of every minute they're here," says Lay.
While families make the most of their holiday time together, businesses are making the most of the extra traffic the holiday activities bring in. Lay says after their time on the ice she and her children and grandchildren will hit the Market Square shops.
Shaun Parrish the manager at LaCosta says he has seen more families coming through Market Square during the holiday season.
"I was amazed at Monday and Tuesday, typically you see people around at the mall out West and there was a big enough crowd, it was kind of hard to walk around," says Parrish.
Allison Sprouse, the owner of Abode, says she believes there was an increase in traffic this year.
"We've definitely seen a difference Thanksgiving to now, just bringing families down that have discovered our store, or rediscovered our store and it's absolutely helped our sales even in the slow economic crisis we feel like we haven't felt a hit," says Sprouse.
Now with Christmas over, sale signs are drawing people into stores and retailers are looking at how they fared the holiday season with the rough economy.
Downtown ice skating continues through January 4th, and Market Square will host First Night on New Years Eve.
