"People are looking for something different where they're not parking in a garage and going to see the same things they can see everywhere," said Nan Rohrer, vice president of economic development and planning for the Downtown Partnership.
The owners of B. Fabulous and Pink Silhouette, clothing and gift boutiques in downtown Bel Air, have also enjoyed a brisk business despite the economy. Sales are up 30 percent at Pink Silhouette, said owner Susan Patti. Sales are also good at B. Fabulous, which opened this year.
Patti, who runs the stores with daughter Christina, said they fill an upscale niche in Bel Air. The boutiques carry designer brands that cannot be found at other retailers in the immediate area, such as Michael Stars and Lily Pulitzer. They are also among the area's few boutiques in the midst of many similar big-box shopping centers.
"We've had a need for some time in Bel Air for nice stores and a nice street," Patti said. "It's become in vogue now to shop the small, quaint shops where you get that special attention."
Because independent businesses are small, they are also more nimble, capable of changing their inventory strategy.
"They are more flexible and able to scale back and rearrange their merchant assortment," said Jie Zhang, an assistant professor of marketing and the Harvey Sanders Fellow of Retail Management at the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland. "They should take advantage of the fact that they're small and can be more flexible."
Nouveau Contemporary Goods Inc., a furniture and home goods store in Belvedere Square, quickly changed course this summer as the housing market decline meant that people cut back on decorating and furnishing their homes.
"We knew to have a good fall we had to do a retooling of the stores and our merchandise," said co-owner Steve Appel.
The owners began looking for lower-price gifts - in the $25 to $30 range - that they could sell during the holidays. They found that vendors, also struggling with reduced demand, were lowering their prices as well. The strategy has worked, and Appel said the store is selling more items than last year, though profit is about the same because of the lower prices.
"Our sales are right on track with last year," Appel said. "We may even hit a little above, depending on how the week after Christmas goes."
