
By Maureen Werther
With the holiday season at hand in, businesses in downtown Saratoga Springs are readying their shops and restaurants to welcome visitors.
Many downtown businesses have long been part of well-attended events such as the Victorian Streetwalk and Christmas tree lighting, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Restaurant Week. There are also new businesses and new owners of existing businesses who are eager to become a part of seasonal festivities.
Impressions of Saratoga among the businesses that has been part of the holiday scene since 1978. Maryanne Barker, co-owner and past president of the Downtown Business Association, stressed the importance of bringing people into the downtown area to shop, dine and be entertained.
“All of our employees are local. We pay rent and we purchase as much inventory locally as we can,” she said. Dollars that stay in the city help to maintain the vibrant local economy. Her new business partner is Maddy Zanetti, who started working at Impressions as a teenager. The team has some new events planned for the upcoming season.
One of them is a shopping night dedicated solely to local teachers.
“This was Maddy’s idea,” said Barker. “We are going to offer finger foods from local food partners and tastings from local artisanal producers of hard cider,” she said. Teachers will have the store to themselves to enjoy some pampering while they browse and shop through the store. There will also be a raffle and door prizes.
Zanetti said Impressions will be hosting other groups throughout the season. Working in concert with the Saratoga Convention and Tourism Bureau, they are going to host a similar event in early December for a group of about 80 people from out of the area. Zanetti echoed Barker’s comments about the importance of stimulating local shopping and dining, noting that at least $80 of every $100 dollars spent in town, stays in town.