NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. – Snookie Suat showed off her latest pieces on Thursday, hoping to catch a customer’s eye at Halos & Dreams Bead Store.
Suat’s store is one of the original shops still open on quaint Canal Street in New Smyrna Beach.
“Twenty years, a long time on this street,” Suat said.
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Suat is tirelessly working to keep it that way, battling a difficult year due to COVID-19.
“It’s been rough. It really has,” she said.
Suat said without Canadian tourists and cancelled Christmas events, she’s getting creative with her holiday deals and even selling special COVID-19 products. She hopes these items will persuade folks that it’s better to shop local.
“Shopping online just closes stores and we’ve already lost two stores on the street. We don’t want to lose any more,” she said.
A couple stores down, Cheryl Lorenz highlights local artists in her gifts and apparel shop called The Posh Pineapple. She said it’s a win-win for the artist and for customers buying the unique gifts.
“When you shop small that you are helping a local family,” Lorenz said.
Lorenz said it’s also been a tough year but she’s doing well, offering gifts with purchases and other promotions. Her goal is for the store to continue thriving and to help other small shops along the way.
“We try to send people to our neighbors to help them out. We all try to do that here to help each other out,” Lorenz said.
“Sometimes you look up at the street and there’s not a person on the street and that really hurts us really bad. So, we really need to get the people back on the street to help us this year,” Suat said.