Everyone agrees: Earlier Than The Bird was "best ever"

Pajama-clad shoppers jammed the Chamber office to get souvenir coffee mugs at 7 a.m.

The consensus from downtown business owners is that this year’s Earlier Than The Bird shopping event on November 18th was the best ever with record crowds and record sales at most of the 29 participating businesses. The event is sponsored by the Boyne Area Chamber and Boyne City Main Street. Anyone wearing pajamas for the event was eligible to stop at the Chamber office to pick up one of 216 souvenir coffee mugs, which were designed and purchased by Main Street. The mugs were gone in record time by 7:37 a.m. Chamber exec director Ashley Cousens said “It was insane. People just flooded in at 7 a.m. and didn’t stop until the mugs were gone.”

Karen Guzniczak of Country Now & Then/Up The Lazy River brought the idea for the event to Boyne City 10 years ago after attending a Main Street national conference in Chicago. She still helps organize the event as chairman of the Main Street Promotions Committee and she said this year’s event was the best ever. “Our sales were almost double from last year,” she said. “The customers were coming in as soon as we opened our doors, the weather was really nice and people were very excited and having fun. We heard from several of our customers that this was their first time participating in the event and they would definitely be back next year and would be bringing friends and or family members.”

	Shoppers lined up before 7 at inspired living.

> Lori Harrington, 52 Weekends: "Thanks to the weather and advertising, the sale was awesome. Everyone seemed to have a really good time and were wearing pajamas. They LOVE the mugs. Keep up the good work. I even had some of my old Petoskey customers that came to the sale. Your team does an excellent job!”

> Jessica White, Boyne City Hardware: “From 7-11am our sales were up over $1,000 compared to last year. And this is AFTER giving our storewide discounts. Up over $2,500 for the entire day compared to last year. GREAT DAY!

> Leslie Neilson, inspired living: “I think this was the best year so far! We had our usual line-up out in front of the store starting at 6:30 and by 7:15 we had a loooonnnnggg line of customers in the store until at least 8:00 with two people ringing people up. Pretty steady until at least 9:00. People seemed to be in good spirits even while they were waiting. I could tell people were really having fun with it. Two thumbs up!”

> Cindi Malin, Cindifranco’s Cool Stuff: "This is my favorite event. We served over 80 servings of oatmeal! Sales were insane but then we were selling at 30% below cost. We will have 60% off on in-stock items during this Friday's Open house."

> Mary Faculak, Mary’s of Boyne: “Earlier Than The Bird was the BEST ever! We were busy right at 7 am and did not slow down until 11ish! So many new people, people who have participated every year, three generations of families shopping together, many people from out of town. Ladies who have made this event an annual outing for their group of friends. People were having so much fun and were so appreciative of the sales, treats and door prizes. Truly a Currier and Ives event and scene in our town."