St. Catharines Downtown Association

With a freshly stocked and painted boutique only days old, Cheri O'Reilly-Ventresca is feeling upbeat about her second foray into retail business.

The economic climate seems a little more promising now than it did when she and a business partner closed the popular gift store White on White 17 months ago.

"I kind of think we're turning the corner of this," she said Monday after her first weekend of sales at CeCe and Co. in downtown St. Catharines.

As the Christmas shopping season gets underway, retailers are expressing cautious optimism.

Statistics Canada said Monday that retail sales have been steadily rising in some sectors since they plummeted at the end of 2008. Sales were up 1% in September, marking the seventh increase in nine months.

Sales were still 3.3% lower than last September, though.

O'Reilly-Ventresca said she and her partner ended White on White when business slowed, right before the economic downturn.

She fast-tracked plans to open another store when she discovered the original White on White space on King Street was available. It is charming downtown at Christmas, she said, with decorations, free parking and Father Christmas wandering about.

The store, named after her three-year-old daughter, teamed up with five other downtown retailers for the annual Six in the City open house tour this weekend and she said 300 to 400 people stopped by.

St. Catharines Downtown Association general manager Tisha Polocko said the open houses are usually a good indication of how the Christmas shopping season is going to go.

"I think everyone's sort of bracing themselves and trying to be optimistic," she said. "It's going to be tough all around. We can only hope people are looking at shopping locally and staying within the area."

Please see full story by K. Walters in The St. Catharines Standard at: