BALITMORE — "I really enjoy styling people," said Stephanie, an associate at Match Made in Heaven in Hampden.
On Monday, Stephanie was refreshing the mannequins with some new styles to attract customers in the post holiday season.
Being part of a local business means taking a lot of different roles to keep sales ringing in a tough retail climate. With rising inflation and a record year for online sales nationwide, stores like Match Made in Heaven get creative to find their customers.
People follow us on Instagram and we always post different events that we're hosting," Stephanie said. " So we actually hosted a bubbles and botox party. The idea of the event was that we offered special discounts in our store as well as discounts on botox while providing food and beverages."
Stephanie also says that creative ways of reaching customers is key to keeping their business viable.
There was quite a lot of people that came out for it," said Stephanie.
Even still, Stephanie says compared to last year sales were down around Thanksgiving.
"But afterwards and like two weeks before Christmas things started to pickup and people were making a point to shop locally," Stephanie said.
Down the road, owner of Baltimore Chef Shop Scott Ryan says the money they make now is crucial to make it through the lean times.
"We are just about where we were post pandemic in terms of the number of classes that we're offering every month," said Ryan.
Even still, they are feeling the pinch of inflation.
"Our vendors all raised their minimum to be able to deliver to us," Ryan said.
And because of margins are tighter with a small business, he says it can be tough to keep prices for their classes the same.
"Infrequently, I think maybe twice in right years that we've been open we've increased prices," said Ryan. "More to be on a parody with the other competition you know son everything is going up and unfortunately this is what drives inflation right? The more you charge, the more people, you know, the more cost and, it's just kind of snake eating its own tail."
Still, you talk to shoppers on the street and you will find residents happy to keep it local.
"You know it may be like a little more expensive to buy local but I mean the quality is better and I would rather give my money to a small business," a local shopper said.
