Astoria's small retailers to band together, offer discounts

Nov. 21, 2016 By Hannah Wulkan

Get discounts on your holiday shopping and reward yourself at the same time with the Small Business Saturday Retail Crawl in Astoria this weekend.

Seventeen local businesses around Astoria are hosting a retail crawl this weekend, encouraging people to stop by and take advantage of discounts, while also earning the chance to win a prize.

To participate in the crawl, customers can print out or pick up a “passport” at any of the participating stores, and get it stamped with every purchase this Saturday. Any passport with eight stamps or more will get the customer a free tote bag, as well as enter them in to a raffle for a gift basket with goods from all 17 stores.

“I think it’s important because I’m an Astoria resident, all my staff lives in Astoria, and when you support small businesses you’re supporting the community,” said Nicole Panettieri, owner of the Brass Owl and organizer of the crawl for the second year in a row. “The money you spend stays in the community, and since we all live here, it stays circulating within the neighborhood and helps build the community financially and in community spirit.”

Panettieri said that during her first year of business in 2014, she had a customer come in on Small Business Saturday wearing pins from all of the local stores she had shopped at that day. “It was just so touching that she was so proud to shop at Astoria retail stores,” she said.

The following year, she organized the Retail Crawl as a way to give back to loyal customers.

Last year the event was organized fairly quickly and at the last minute, Panettieri said, and she received about 50 completed passports by the end of the day. This year she hopes to raise the stakes, and said she is aiming for 200 completed passports.

The crawl runs all day on Saturday, and any completed passports must be dropped off to the Brass Owl at 36-19 Ditmars Blvd before December 2.

For more information and to print out a passport visit https://www.facebook.com/events/537729903090768/.

Participating stores are each offering their own discounts in addition to the passport promotion. Those stores include: