Thanks in part to a large turnout at the Fulton Downtown Business Association's annual Holiday Open House on Nov. 18, businesses along Court Street said the holiday shopping season already is off to a strong start locally.
"That Friday night was awesome because we had great weather for once," Caitlin Wentworth, manager of RCW Gifts and Tack said of the open house. "We had a lot of new faces that had never been into the store before, we've seen an increase in the number of people who were traveling (for the holiday)."
She said the store had "definitely seen a pick-up" in business over the past week, noting visitors have been in the holiday shopping mood.
"There have been more people in looking for unique gifts," Wentworth said.
Kathryn Wade, owner of Jinx Books, said November had been slow until the open house.
"We did very well Friday night and we did pretty good Saturday night and pretty good this week," Wade said Saturday morning.