Scranton Tomorrow officials hope an annual promotional event puts a spring in shoppers\u2019 steps on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Hop Around Downtown \u2014 started several years ago after a suggestion from the owners of Penn House Boutique \u2014 has been expanded to include a Golden Egg hunt. Customers who find the eggs \u2014 between 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. \u2014 will receive 10% off their purchase, said Liz Baldi, business development director for Scranton Tomorrow, a nonprofit community and economic development organization.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey wanted to do a spring event to really kind of capture an audience for anybody out shopping for Easter presents,\u201d Baldi said. \u201cWhat better time to do it than right before Easter when spring is finally starting and the weather is getting nice. All the stores downtown have all of their spring retail out. In addition, they add some extra smaller items for Hop Around so they can be Easter basket stuffers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lynn Farrell, co-owner of Penn House Boutique, 314 Penn Ave., praised Scranton Tomorrow\u2019s continued efforts and believes the springtime event will provide a boost to downtown retailers during a traditionally weaker time for sales.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey go above and beyond trying to help the Scranton businesses come up with ideas and keep things going, especially at times like January, February and March when things are slow,\u201d Farrell said. \u201cWe\u2019re very appreciative of Leslie (Collins) and Liz. It gives you that little incentive of getting 10% off, and getting something new for the holiday or a trip that is coming up. It\u2019ll get some traffic downtown, which I think we need.\u201d<\/p>\n