Celina downtown bustles with gladness

CELINA - Downtown Celina was lively on Friday night during the annual Midnight Gladness event, with shoppers coming out to support their local businesses and knock out some holiday shopping.

Many owners were keeping busy as customers walked up and down Main Street and the surrounding blocks taking advantage of sales and enjoying unique events at different stores.

Brew Nation hosted live music and offered holiday drinks to help warm up people. Those who wanted to try making a little music themselves could walk to the Celina Music Store, where owner Dean
Schweizer was offering five-minute guitar lessons, which he said many people had decided to try.

Despite some of the usual attractions, such as the sleigh rides through downtown, being skipped, Schweizer believes the event was going as well or even better than in previous years. As a whole, his store had been pretty busy with several new customers popping in. And he noted that everyone seemed to be staying safe and wearing their masks.

At the Flower Shop on the corner of North Main and East Market streets, owners said while their store was not as busy as last year, the night was still going very well and sales were strong. The number of walk-in customers this year has been down, but the groups coming in Friday certainly helped, they noted.

Stacy Beougher, director of the Celina-Mercer County Chamber of Commerce, said while many business owners were likely affected by the pandemic, most have found ways to continue to succeed with services such as online ordering and curbside pickup of goods.

Downtown business owners continue to meet and discuss ways to increase foot traffic. Beougher said owners had been doing a great job of adhering to state mandates and encouraged shoppers to go downtown for a safe, enjoyable shopping experience.