New Hamburg sidewalk sales support local downtown businesses

Sidewalk sales in New Hamburg From CTV Kitchener's Jessica Smith: A new initiative in New Hamburg is looking to support local downtown businesses.

NEW HAMBURG — The community of New Hamburg has taken to the streets to support their small businesses.

The sidewalk sales have been a longstanding tradition in the town, but hold a more special place for shops this year.

“It is so valuable to our downtown core and our downtown businesses to have people come and support them and see how they’ve had to pivot during the pandemic,” said Wilmot councilor Angie Hallman.

MeMe’s Café owner Meredith Hagen echoes that the event has taken on special meaning during COVID-19 times.

“Everything is different this year, but true to the spirit of downtown we’re doing our best,” she said.

Kathie Jordan of Kathie Jordan design has been a staple in the community for many years, but has had to shift a large portion of her business online.

“It’s just so nice to look around downtown after we’ve been open and closed and open and closed and managing our businesses and pivoting to see that our businesses are still here,” she said. “That’s in large part because we get the support from our community.”

For the owners of the Cakr Maker Bakery, who are a new business to the area, they’ve been able to use events like the sidewalk sale to introduce themselves to the community.

“We opened our business right in the middle of the second wave and so people would just even come in to thank us for being here,” said co-owner Salem Sanchez. “It’s nice to be able to meet people and to see people.”

The sale wraps up this weekend, but many of the shop owners say they’re already planning on how to make the event bigger and better next year.