Boutiques in Five Points premiered its “Wine Down Wednesday,” this past week, offering wine and bite sized plates for customers along with store-wide discounts.
Amanda Gosnell, manager of Vestique, was the one to come up with the idea. She was trying to come up with ways to bring in customers during the summer, which is typically a slower period for Five Points due to the lack of a full student body. What started out as an idea for Vestique evolved quickly after a visit from Amy Beth Franks, executive director of the Five Points Association.
Gosnell told Franks about the idea, and Franks suggested making it a Five Points wide event. Shoe store, Good for the Sole, and clothing boutique, Steel Garden, then jumped on the idea. “Wednesday is a good hump day, so maybe we can get some people down here, and then they’ll go to the bars or go to the restaurants afterwards,” owner of Good for the Sole, Kelly Tabor said.
By the time the event premiered, clothing store Copper Penny and candy store Tic Toc Candy Shoppe had hopped on board as well.
Vestique and Steel Garden offered 10 percent off of the entire store during the event, and saw a fair amount of people show up. Vestique, offering wine, champagne, cheese and mini cupcakes, was pleased with the turn out and noted that it was great to have other stores participating; that way word of mouth could travel and customers could go from place to place, hopefully telling others about it. Good for the Sole offered 15 percent off of the whole store and served both sweet and savory appetizers that complemented the white and red wine they offered.
Copper Penny, one of the later additions to the event, didn’t offer a discount throughout the store simply because it was so last minute. They planned on seeing how the turn out was and if it was good, talking about their options for discounts to give customers. Tic Toc Candy Shoppe served up different types of dark chocolate to complement the red wine that was also served; though they were last minute additions, owners Dee Dalley and Lynn Humphrey said that they are going to stick with the event and continue it every Wednesday.
The event brought great foot traffic into Five Points, especially for those with nine-to-five jobs that may not be able to get in some shopping time during the week. Each store was welcoming and excited about the event, and looks forward to what the summer will bring. If successful enough, there is a chance that the event might happen a few times in the fall, but with the student body back in August, stores might not need the event to bring in customers.
Wine Down Wednesday will happen again in Five Points next week, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. For more updates on the event, follow @FivePointsSC on Twitter or Like any of the stores mentioned on Facebook.