“Thrilled with what my city has done”: Shop Small Crawl supports downtown businesses

Source: The Tribune Democrat

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – The Shop Small Crawl that began Saturday features multiple coffee shops in downtown Johnstown; so, many caffeine-fueled shoppers may have been doing more darting than crawling Saturday from store to store.

The Shop Small Crawl brought people downtown to explore small, independent shops on Small Business Saturday – the first Saturday after Thanksgiving, a day to knock out holiday shopping while supporting small businesses.

With small businesses working to repopulate downtown Johnstown in recent years, the second annual Shop Small Crawl, promoted by the nonprofit You in Flood City, beganSaturday to support those small business owners.

The Shop Small Crawl features 20 businesses, many of them in downtown Johnstown.

 A map of businesses participating in the Shop Small Crawl can be found here

The event sparked the interest of Michelle Trotz, who just moved back to Johnstown in October after living outside of the area for the past 13 years.

Trotz said Saturday that she was impressed by the number of businesses that have been established downtown, including the Creative Corner & Co., Classic Elements, Flood City Cafe, the Write Cup, Lamb- cakes Bakery and Balance Restaurant.

“I decided to check some of the town out and there’s an amazing amount of fantastic places,” Trotz said. “I’m so thrilled with what my city has done. I’m overjoyed and overwhelmed at what I see the city doing.”

The Shop Small Crawl began Saturday and runs until Dec. 21.

Participating shoppers can win a grand prize of $500 by collecting buttons that serve as proof of purchase from the 20 businesses that are part of the promotion. Shoppers pin the buttons to a “Shop Small Crawl” tote available for $10 at Classic Elements, 345 Main St.; Flood City Cafe, 137 Clinton St.; or The Write Cup, 134 Gazebo Park, all in downtown Johnstown.

Shoppers who add 20 buttons to their totes – one button is awarded per purchase from participating stores – can win a grand prize of $500.

The event is sponsored by Lofts on Upper Main at 605 Main St., owned by Bill and Kim McKinney. The couple purchased and renovated that eight-floor, 18,000-square-foot building in recent years to help revitalize the area and bring more residential units to dovetail with the growing number of small businesses downtown.

Kim McKinney visited local businesses along the path of the crawl Saturday.

“We try to promote downtown as best we can,” Kim McKinney said. “It has so much to offer.”

Daphne Janik, of the small community of Elton, said she has begun coming downtown regularly to visit Craftwork Studios located on the upper floors of 134 Gazebo Park, above the Write Cup coffee shop.

“I remember coming to Johnstown when I was a little kid, and it was always magical at Christmas time,” Janik said.

The closure of Penn Traffic department store after the 1977 Johnstown Flood and the subsequent closure of Glosser Bros. department store in the 1990s contributed to a long period of decline downtown.

“I support the young shop owners,” Janik said. “They’ve really been revitalizing Johnstown. It’s been a long time coming.”

The Creative Corner & Co., a retailer of local artisan goods opened at 416 Main St. in September.

“The Shop Small Crawl is nice for us because we are so new,” said Katie Kinka, who co-owns the shop with Tara Bagley and Amy Harris. “The visibility is great.”