Gadsden business owners looking to drive sales in fourth quarter

The next three months is an important time for small businesses.

Many owners are keeping an eye on their bottom line and looking for ways to drive sales.

"It's going to be an interesting fourth quarter but we're going to make the best of it," Tena King, owner of King's Olive Oil Company in downtown Gadsden said.

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Small business owners understand the task many of them have ahead.

"The fourth quarter is very important for small businesses," King said. "For us personally, we do about 30-40 percent of our business in November and December."

Many businesses that took a hit from COVID-19 are finding ways to make sales.

Some are offering special shopping hours for customers that may be considered at risk of contracting COVID-19.

"We're going to do some shopping by appointment only on Monday's," King explained. "If people can't do it on a Monday we'll accommodate them after hours or before hours."

Others are keeping up with their online presence.

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"There are lots of ways of searching for yarn shops online when you're traveling," Pat Miller, Co-owner of The Taming of the Ewe, a coffee and tea boutique shop in downtown Gadsden said. "So we pick up a lot of people that way."

Miller says business is already starting to pick up for the holiday season.

"When people are shopping for one thing, they notice other things and they come and see us," Miller explained, "and we have a very good, active downtown association which makes all the difference."

King agrees. She says being downtown is also a big help.

"We have a strong loyalty to our downtown," King said. "I think that really helps all of us located downtown to survive. It is survival of the fittest right now."