Downtown Durango was mostly quiet the morning of Black Friday – the busiest shopping day of the year in the United States – but as the day warmed, residents and visitors emerged from their post-Thanksgiving dormancy to stroll the sidewalks, step into stores and open their wallets.
Families traveled from New Mexico, Arizona and Texas to enjoy the cooler weather in Durango, ride the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad’s Polar Express, enjoy local food and even purchase Christmas trees.
Albuquerque residents Jason Bennett and Danielle Lavar arrived in Durango on Friday. They said they used to visit Durango at least once a year, but it’s been about two years since their last visit.
They are staying in Durango until Sunday, and the Polar Express ride on Saturday is at the top of their list of attractions.
Bennett said they’re spending their time walking downtown and seeing the sights. His daughter was with his grandmother at their hotel room.
He said Durango mostly feels the same since his last visit – “cozy, comfortable” with a “warm, inviting atmosphere” – although he noted the now completed Grandview Interchange near Three Springs.
If there’s one place he just has to visit whenever he’s in town, it would be El Moro Spirits and Tavern, he said.
“They’re just a wonderful restaurant. Great spot,” he said. “Always had a great customer service, wonderful selection and craft beers, cocktails and the food has always been spectacular.”
Lavar planned to attend the annual community festival Singing With Santa later Friday evening.
Some families on Main Avenue were on their way out of Durango after visiting family for Thanksgiving. Not having time to dawdle, one woman said she, her husband and their son were headed off to Durango-La Plata County Airport to catch a return flight.
Steve, an Albuquerque man who declined to share his last name, said he brought his family to Durango for Thanksgiving to ride the Polar Express. He’s no stranger to the city, though, because he used to live in Farmington and has visited the city often over the years.
The Thanksgiving holiday falls squarely within Durango’s business shoulder season, but depending on who one asks, it doesn’t seem like it.
Clint McKnight at Maria’s Bookshop said on Friday he doesn’t notice the shoulder season anymore.
“Maria’s is very fortunate. It stays very busy … consistently throughout the year,” he said. “It does drop off after the kids go back to school, but it didn’t drop off much this year. It ramped up pretty quickly. And we’re just very lucky to have that kind of interest in a small bookstore.”
On Friday morning, he said the bookstore had a steady stream of shoppers, but nothing overwhelming.
“On these cold mornings, it takes a little while for things to warm up, quite literally, but I’ll bet this afternoon, you come in here and we’ll have all three registers busy,” he said.
Durango resident Robert Didomizio was showing his daughter, Taryn, who traveled from Austin, Texas, around town.
Taryn said they went skiing at Wolf Creek Ski Area and are among the many riding the Polar Express on Saturday.
She said she visits her family in Durango every year for the holidays.
Durango Business Improvement Director Tim Walsworth, busy preparing for Singing With Santa, said December is a huge month for businesses all over town, matching if not surpassing July business at the height of summer.
BID implemented a new gift card promotional program for Black Friday this year called the Holly Jolly Gift Card Drawing. Similar to past promotional programs, it encourages people to shop locally by offering the chance to win a $1,000 Heart of Durango gift card.
Walsworth said December gives local businesses a “giant bump” ahead of the new year through Black Friday sales, Noel Night scheduled for Dec. 6 and other holiday rewards programs.
“Kudos to our community members for shopping local,” he said. “I will tell you that (the) Polar Express train that brings 35,000 riders to downtown does not hurt at all. That’s a really, really awesome, fun thing to do for families, and then it has economic impact with all those riders that need to eat and do a little shopping too.”
The San Juan Mountains Association launched its annual Christmas Trees for Conservation sale at the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad on Friday. The sale, SJMA’s biggest fundraiser of the year, is yet another opportunity to circulate local dollars and contribute to forest health at the same time, said Stephanie Weber, SJMA executive director.
“People are in good spirits and ready for the holidays,” she said.
The sale started with about 940 trees, white furs harvested at Beaver Meadows estate of Bayfield and traditional balsams sourced from a commercial farm in Wisconsin. Weber said she expects to sell about a third of the trees by the weekend’s end.
Most of the trees range from 5 feet to 18 feet tall.
She said harvesting the white furs contributes to conservation efforts because white furs are ladder fuels, meaning they ignite easily and they quickly go up in flames, allowing flames to spread higher into the forest canopy.
SJMA partners with the U.S. Forest Service and other land management agencies through the Coordinated Forest Landscape Restoration Plan, and harvesting white furs contributes to the plan, she said.
She added the balsams are one’s traditional commercial Christmas tree, and SJMA stocks up on them so people looking for the perfect tree can find it at the sale.
cburney@durangoherald.com
