Sidewalk sale keeps Cedarhurst humming

Summer event boosts village's economy

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Designer brands were priced at 25, 40 and 50 percent off. Summer clothing was buy-one-and-get-two-free. More than 80 stores took part in the four-day, 26th annual Cedarhurst Business Improvement District summer sidewalk sale last week, which attracted crowds to the village’s shopping area.
Ari Brown, a Cedarhurst trustee who serves as the liaison between the village board and the BID, said that the event’s success is attributable to the cooperation among merchants and the village, and helps contribute to Cedarhurst’s low commercial vacancy rate of 5 percent. The village counts 283 businesses in its downtown.
“The sidewalk sale works because it goes hand in hand with what the village and merchants want,” Brown said. “It’s a good family relationship between the two. It takes a lot of effort. Teri Schure and Steve Schneider of the BID do a really great job in planning it, along with the mayor’s guidance.”
The sale expanded to Sunday for the second year in a row, to accommodate weekday workers. The event grew out of the experience of local merchant Jerry Cohen, owner of Trees, a women’s accessories store, who had seen a similar sidewalk sale upstate. Cohen pitched the idea of starting one in Cedarhurst to a few other local merchants about 30 years ago.
“You’d have to poll each merchant to know how much money was made from the sale,” Brown said. “Thousands of people come out every year. It’s a big boon to our community and to our merchants. Some businesses say they saw thousands more dollars earned.”
At Morton’s Army Navy Store, which sells sporting goods and active fashions, owner Steve Silverman said the sale serves two purposes. “The sale helps us a lot,” he said. “It’s a good way of clearing out our seasonal items. It also gets people to buy so many things on sale. It’s a win-win situation for everyone. [We had] North Face fleeces and gloves on sale at half price. On Wednesday, when the sale started, people waited on line outside our store to get this deal.”

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