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Sidewalk sale generates revenue and exposure
The Cedarhurst Business Improvement District’s Summer Sidewalk Sale is a revenue generator that attracts upward of 10,000 people to the village over four days, and organizers hope that in its 28th year, it will once again be a shopping and commercial bonanza for patrons and merchants alike.
This year it will take place Wednesday, July 20, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Thursday, July 21, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Friday, July 22, from 10 a.m. to closing; and Sunday, July 24, from 1 to 6 p.m. Prompted by customer requests, Sunday was added three years ago.
More than 80 stores take part, offering sale items and specially discounted merchandise, and shoppers can choose from jewelry, clothing, beauty products, Judaica and kosher food along Central and Cedarhurst avenues as well as side streets.
“One only needs to drive by during any of these events to see that every store is flowing with customers, and every Cedarhurst parking lot is filled to capacity,” Teri Schure, the Business Improvement District’s executive director, said of the event, which complements the Black Friday/Saturday Night Midnight Madness sales each November.
According to Schure, Five Towns residents aren’t the only ones who take advantage of the bargains: Shoppers also come from nearby communities including Bayswater, East Rockaway, Far Rockaway, Long Beach, Lynbrook, Malverne, Rockville Centre and Valley Stream, as well as Great Neck, on the North Shore, many areas of Brooklyn and Queens, and as far away as Westchester County, New Jersey and Connecticut.
“We know where the customers are coming from based upon the thousands of addresses on the raffle forms that shoppers coming for the event fill out in hopes of winning the $1,000 Cedarhurst Shopping Spree,” Schure said. “Last year, over 6,500 raffle tickets were filled out.”
Dimples, a clothing and gift stores for infants and toddlers on Central Avenue, has taken part in the sidewalk sale for 10 years since opening in 2005, said owner Cindy Merrill. “It’s a fun time for the community, and I love to see all the moms out,” she said. “I love the exposure for the store. We have some good deals, and we can move some remaining merchandise.”
In his seventh year of being part of the event, Music Hub owner Michael Dworetsky said it’s great to be outside and to be able to play music — loudly. Dworetsk said he promotes the musical instruction the store offers in piano, drums and guitar as well as the sale of new and used instruments.
“The summer sale draws a lot of people to Central Avenue, and we have a lot of instruments out,” he said. “You can really learn about your neighbors and see things you normally wouldn’t. It generates sales during the summertime, when it’s slow with the kids away at camp.”
