Colorado Shops Seeing Fewer Customers Than Expected This Holiday Season

AURORA, Colo. (CBS4) - After battling staffing, supply and inflation issues, some Colorado small businesses are left with one more problem this holiday season, a lack of customers.

"Small Business Saturday surprised me. It was very... it was the slowest one we've ever had. I think even slower than last year which is odd. And so that was that I could not figure out," said Shana Colbin who owns True Boutique in the Stanley Marketplace.

Colbin, who owns other boutiques in Denver, says the issue is being seen at some of her other locations as well.

"We're having kind of a quiet holiday season so far," she said. "The best idea for my sanity was to compare it to the month prior not to the year prior or the two previous years prior."

Colbin thinks the weather is playing a role in the lack of shoppers at her store. On the other side of the marketplace, Nate Axvig finally saw a jump in business thanks to the snow and cold temperatures.

"It's inconsistent," Axvig said inside Aktiv, a store filled with Scandinavian clothing.

"With the way of the world right now, formal clothing is trending downward," he said. "Colorado and Scandinavia share of a clothing philosophy. So, movement and practicality in clothing is like the hallmarks of Scandinavia. And we feel that they apply really well to the Colorado lifestyle," he said.

Business has been hard to plan for, he decided after last Christmas shopping season, he'd oversupply his store. The best seller is a quarter-zip sweater with a mix of insulation and wool.

"We actually sold out of it before Christmas 2020. So, this year this is the product I went deep into and pulled delivery as early as I could," Axvig said. "And they were able to accommodate that. And that's been very good for us."

He's hoping the temperatures stay low with two weekends left before the holiday.

"I think that December is going to be really good for us," he said.

"These next two weeks are everything," Colbin said. "We're here to take care of you."