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Downtown’s annual Sunrise Sale to take place Thursday
The Downtown Business Association (DBA) of St. Petersburg’s 52nd annual Sunrise Sale will be held Thursday.
More than 45 small businesses around Beach Drive, Central Avenue, the EDGE District and the 4th Street corridor are scheduled to participate. These include Kalamazoo Olive Company, Atlas Body + Home, Sartorial Inc, Marion’s, Reno Beach Surf Shop, Jackie Z Style Co. and Diamonds Direct.
Restaurants including The Wooden Rooster and The Birchwood also will offer specials.
Yellow flags will be visible around businesses that are taking part in the event, which continues throughout the day.
The sale was first established in 1973 to support local shops during the summer season.
“Summer is slow, and it is hard for small businesses to stay solvent, and it just seems to get harder and harder,” said DBA president Tami Simms.
Visitors are encouraged to dress in their pajamas. This has been a tradition for years; many retailers give extra discounts or small gifts to shoppers in jammies, Simms said.
“I think it was intended to be maybe a one-year thing and it just stuck,” she added. “Everybody makes a big show of it.”
Participating stores prepare for the sale well ahead of time. Often, seasonal and discontinued items receive the biggest discounts, Simms explained. “Everybody plans all year long and saves up good inventory that they can offer at super discounted prices.”
The Sunrise Sale starts at 6:43 a.m. According to DBA lore, that’s when the first event began in ‘73. The organizers chose to keep the time as a way to honor its history. (As for why the sale starts so early, Simms believes it was due to work schedules.)
For participating businesses, the Sunrise Sale is a way to connect with shoppers.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity for folks who want to support true local brick and mortar to do that,” said Jose Johan Martinez, owner of Sartorial Inc and former DBA president. “It really injects a lot of life into small business in the slowest time of the year for us.”
Tony Loeffler, co-owner of Atlas Body + Home and an association board member, argued that the sale this year is particularly pertinent. “Especially this summer we’re seeing definite economic impacts from the Rays not being here,” he explained. “It’s coming at a really great time.”
Jon Reno LaBudde, owner of Reno Beach Surf Shop, believes the Sunrise Sale is a key seasonal event for local companies.
“It’s a good positive thing because it gives a lot of retailers kind of a shot in the arm in July,” LaBudde said. “The locals and the tourists really participate.”
Allison Davidson, manager of Marion’s, agreed.
“We’ve been doing it for about over 30 years,” she explained. “We just really enjoy it because our community comes together. It’s a tradition.”
