It's the final countdown for those who are wrapping up their Christmas shopping this weekend.
Jenn Morton, a Barrie resident, was shopping for her two children, who are three and one, on Friday afternoon at Jack and Maddy's.
"I like shopping in downtown Orillia," she said. "It's a lot more user-friendly than the big box stores in Barrie."
Morton says downtown Orillia has improved "so much" over the years, which makes it a "great place" to do Christmas shopping.
"The customer service is better, and I find that prices are better," she said. "I find that a lot of the Amazon prices are actually increasing. It pays to come in here and find the stuff yourself."
This holiday season, the usual free parking program wasn't offered in downtown Orillia. Morton says that wasn't a barrier for her.
"I used the Passport app to pay, and I found a parking spot right away," she said. "I don't mind paying a little bit for the convenience of the app as opposed to having to scramble to find change."
Jack and Maddy's owner, Megan Murray, believes the end of the free holiday parking program had no impact on traffic downtown this holiday season.
"When I look out my window, the spaces are still full," she said. "People are still coming into my store and saying it took them a while to find a spot."
Despite the usual high volume of foot traffic, Murray says sales are down from last year's holiday season.
"Last year was wild," she said. "It was the first year free of COVID restrictions and shoppers were buying for more people than usual."
This year, shoppers are following more traditional spending patterns.
"I think budget-wise people are being a little more conscious," she said. "People are only buying for close family and friends."
Due to inflation, Jack and Maddy's has had to raise prices over the past few years.
"We've made a deliberate effort this year to make sure price points stay stable," she said. "We want people to be able to access whatever they need."
At Jack and Maddy's, more people are buying in-store this year than online. That wasn't the case during the pandemic.
"Pretty consistently people are going online to look at things," Murray explained. "But they want to come into the store to buy them."
Over at the Bird House Nature Company, owner Patricia Cousineau says the Christmas shopping season has had lots of highs and lows.
"Some days have been super busy," she said. "Other days, not so much."
To increase foot traffic in the downtown core, Cousineau organized five late shopping sessions on Thursday nights during the holiday season. Over 30 businesses participated by staying open past 5 p.m.
"The first one was fairly busy down here," she said. "The other Thursdays were quite a bit slower."
Cousineau believes that moving the late shopping sessions to Friday evenings and having more businesses onboard could make it a hit in 2024.
"We just need the foot traffic and the people," she said. "We need more publicity and to boost it bigger."
Sisters Sue Fulton and Karen Pfister from Pickering and Newmarket, respectively, spent Friday afternoon shopping for family members in downtown Orillia.
"We like this town, it's nice," Fulton said. "The people are very friendly here and the shops are nice."
Pfister says it's "really important" to support local businesses during the holiday season.
"If we didn't support them, these towns would end up being just full of big box stores," she said. "We can go to those stores anywhere, but stores like this are unique to their little towns."
Unfortunately, Cousineau doesn't believe the majority of shoppers have the same mentality as Pfister and Fulton.
"People are still shopping online for convenience and the fact that they don't have to go out or have to pay to park," she said. "They can still have it shipped right to their door and can return it if they don't like it."
In the final shopping days leading up to Christmas, Cousineau is hoping more people choose to shop locally.
"People need to realize that it's the local shops that are supporting their sports teams and fundraisers," she said. "We can't continue to donate if we don't have people buying."
Cousineau says downtown businesses could use a boost from local shoppers this weekend.
"Everybody struggled down here this summer with our street and parks being closed (due to construction)," she said. "We definitely need the support."
Over at the Orillia Square mall, traffic has been steady at Joseph's Men's Clothier according to sales associate Gabby Chiaramida.
"It has really picked up since the end of November," she said. "People have come in to get a lot of gifts for friends and family."
Unfortunately, due to inflation, it's more expensive to shop at Joseph's this holiday season than it was in years past, she said.
"With inflation, not only is the price of our merchandise going up, but there is also an increased price in having to get things shipped to us," Chiaramida said. "It's impacted people’s choices when it comes to buying things in the store for sure."
Regular customers from Brechin, Beaverton, and Huntsville have stayed loyal to Joseph's through inflation and have expressed their understanding of the increased prices. However, the clothing store hasn't seen many new customers this year.
"Being located in the mall, a lot of people don't know that there is a high-end clothing store here," Chiaramida said. "People are conveniently shopping on Amazon more because it's easier and quicker."
While Joseph's stays busy, Chiaramida says the rest of the mall has been quiet on most days this month.
"Santa being here has drawn in children and young families to get their photos taken," she explained. "But it hasn't really changed the flow of traffic."
Chiaramida hopes to see the mall gain some new stores in the new year. She says it could breathe new life into what is a quiet shopping centre.
"There isn't much to come to the mall for," she said. "People aren't going to come all the way here for seven stores or whatever is in here."
