Looking down Central Avenue, which is part of the Downtown Business Improvement District in Prince Albert. (Ian Gustafson/paNOW Staff)

By Ian Gustafson

Shop Local

Downtown Sidewalk Sale an opportunity for P.A. residents to explore businesses

Jun 19, 2021 | 9:00 AM

Those who have been waiting to explore downtown Prince Albert will get a golden opportunity on Saturday during the Downtown Sidewalk Sale.

The Downtown Business Improvement District is inviting P.A. residents on Saturday to walk around and look at the new stores, visit all the galleries and experience everything the area has to offer. This event was created to replace the street fair that is held on Central Avenue every year.

Carolyn Carleton, Executive Director of the Downtown Business Improvement District, said a few of the stores such as the YPA Makers Market will be holding demonstrations at their stores.

“We have all of our restaurants downtown that are going to be open and serving food to everybody and we have invited food trucks into the downtown as well. I’m not sure how many are showing up but I’m hoping that there’ll be a few down around Memorial Square or around the riverbank,” Carleton told paNOW.

There will also be several family activities happening at locations such as the Mann Art Gallery, and the Prince Albert Historical Society is having a vintage item sale, as well as offering tours. She explained any store in the downtown area could be having sales or specials. There will also be the farmers market held every Saturday in the city hall parking lot.

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“It’s just basically a day for us to open our doors and let people walk around and come visit all the stores. A lot of the stores ended up doing renovations and that type of thing during COVID and when things were slower last year. So, this is our welcome back to the downtown,” Carleton explained.

Other than doing renovations, Carleton said some businesses are releasing new products and are doing things differently. They also had a grant program funded by parking meters that some downtown businesses used for store front improvements. They gave out approximately $25,000 to businesses over the last couple of years.

No streets will be closed during the event and parking is free every Saturday.

Carleton said the support that Prince Albert businesses have received during the pandemic is much appreciated.

“There’s a lot of people that are coming and doing a lot of shopping in the downtown,” she said. “We’ve definitely been appreciative of how much shopping local has gone on. Even last summer we saw a lot of people that would be on the way to their cabins on the lake all stopping and shopping downtown on their way. We saw a lot more traffic from that last year than we have in previous years.”

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Ian.Gustafson@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @IanGustafson12