Support local, shop small: Astoria’s retail crawl kicks-off Friday featuring 32 must-visit spots for holiday shoppers

The Ditmars corner on the Shop Small Astoria crawl. Photo via @shopsmallastoria on Instagram.

Nov. 25, 2024 By Shane O’Brien

The tenth annual Shop Small Astoria retail crawl is set to kick off this Friday, featuring a record 32 local businesses.

Shop Small Astoria, first launched for the 2015 holiday season, will run from Friday, Nov. 29, until Wednesday, Dec. 4. It aims to celebrate and promote independently owned stores located throughout Astoria.

The 32 participating stores in the 2024 retail crawl include pet stores, beauty parlors, bookshops, florists, and clothing stores.

The crawl is split into six areas: Ditmars, Astoria Park, Steinway, West Astoria, Kaufman Area, and Broadway.

Anyone interested in participating in the crawl can collect a passport from any of the 32 stores and will win a free limited edition Astoria tote bag if they make $10 purchases in at least 10 of the participating stores.

Each passport will contain a map of the participating businesses.

Anyone who receives at least 10 stamps in their passport will also be eligible to enter for a chance to win one of four grand prizes on offer, with vouchers for massages, stores and local bars and restaurants on offer.

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Nicole Panettieri, the owner of Tiny Owl and Brass Owl on Ditmars Boulevard and founder of the retail crawl in 2015, said the event is important for small businesses operating in Astoria because it helps make the community aware of the independent options on their doorstep.

“I always hear people finish the crawl and say ‘I didn’t know about that store’ or ‘I found this new store and I love it’,” Panettieri said. “It really helps to bring awareness to all that we have. Even outside of Astoria, I think it’s really drawn people from other areas of New York because we have such a strong small business community here.”

Panettieri said each of the participating businesses will be running some form of special event, promotion, or pop-up with local artists, adding that the event will help to kick off the holiday spirit in Astoria.

“The weekend after Thanksgiving is the unofficial kickoff to the holiday shopping season, so I think all of the stores are bringing in merchandise that’s really festive. The streets are festive,” she said.

Panettiieri founded Small Shop Astoria one year after opening the Brass Owl at 36-19 Ditmars Blvd. following a conversation with a local woman on her first Small Business Saturday in business.

She said the woman came into her store with a number of pins she had collected from neighboring businesses throughout Small Business Saturday because she wanted to support as many independent businesses as she could.

“I thought that it is just so amazing that someone cares so much about supporting all of these businesses we have,” Panettieri said. “And I’m like, ‘How can we reward people who shop that way’?

“I was really inspired by that woman. I think about her every year I do this crawl.”

She said the retail crawl has grown astronomically since its inaugural event in 2015, jumping from 11 participating stores to 32 stores in 2024.

Panettieri said the growth in participating stores reflects the growth in new small businesses that have opened in the neighborhood over the past 10 years.

“The DNA of Astoria is small business,” Panettieri said. “For the most part, we still are a small business-heavy neighborhood, and that’s great. We obviously have had big chains move in, but for the most part, we still remain a community that is really passionate about small businesses. I think that’s a testament to Astoria.”

Check out a full list of participating businesses below