Chamber combines sidewalk and yard sales

By Joseph Domelowicz Jr.

For the Transcript

The Winthrop Chamber of Commerce will pair its popular and successful Annual Sidewalk Sale next Saturday, May 16, with a newly organized Townwide Yard Sale on Sunday, May 17, to create a weekend shopping event for local and area folks

“The whole goal of the two events is to try and get people out and discover what kinds of stores and specials the town of Winthrop has to offer,” explained Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Eric Gaynor. “We’ve been doing the Annual Sidewalk Sale for a few years now, and it has really been a popular event in past years. . . the Townwide Yard Sale is something that we’ve tried a little bit in the past, but this year, we really focused on promoting and organizing it better, and the response was better than we could’ve hoped.”

Actually, the response for both sales events has been excellent, as more than 50 local businesses townwide will take part in the Sidewalk Sale on Saturday, and more than 40 residents and businesses will join in on the Yard Sale on Sunday.

“This year’s Sidewalk Sale actually has a lot of really good deals. There are stores with buy one, get one free sales, clearance sales as well as other types of sales promotions,” said Gaynor. “And it’s not just traditional shops taking part. There will be arts and crafters with booths on the sidewalks, and businesses that provide services and restaurants also taking part in the Sidewalk Sale.”

The event will also feature a fun BIZGO, shopping game with a $500 shopping spree as a grand prize and two $250 shopping sprees as runner-up prizes.

“Maggie Morris [of Luna Boutique] has been the chairperson of the event, and she and the committee have done an excellent job,” added Gaynor.

The Saturday event will even feature an attraction for kids, as Wally the Green Monster will make a special trip outside of Fenway Park to sign autographs and take pictures in French Square beginning at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday.

As for the Sunday Yard Sale, the event is clearly designed to reach a different kind of shopper, but Gaynor noted that there is a large contingent of folks who like to mosey around yard sales every weekend, and with the advertising campaign the Chamber undertook outside of town, both in area newspapers and online, this event is viewed as one that may draw people from all over the North Shore to Winthrop.

“The great part of this event is that we’ve put a map of the town up on our website, with pushpins depicting the locations of the 40-plus yard sales that will be taking place on Sunday, May 16,” said Gaynor. “If people enlarge the map, they can get right down and see how many yard sales are on a given street and where they are. It’s a very cool thing that we think is going to bring a lot of interest from around the area.”

Participants in the Townwide Yard Sale have all agreed to remain open from at least 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.

Both events will be held rain or shine. For more information, call the Winthrop Chamber of Commerce at 617-846-9898 or check them out at www.winthropchamber.com.