Snowbirds drive holiday season for local businesses

It's no different in Green Valley and Sahuarita, where shops find themselves busier as winter visitors start to return and see a dramatic slowdown in the summer when they go home.

Go local

Randy Graf, president and CEO of the Green Valley-Sahuarita Chamber of Commerce, said winter is crucial for many of their members.

“During the holiday season in Green Valley and Sahuarita, we get a lot of winter visitors, which starts the season extending into March and April,” he said. “For most of our members, probably 80% of their sales are happening in the next four months.”

Graf said the chamber encourages the community to shop local for the holidays, and they have an online directory/marketplace on their website that highlights shopping deals.

“For every dollar, 67% circulates back into the community, so that’s what we are working on going into the holiday season,” Graf said. 

He said that while spending slows in the summer, "it is not nearly as pronounced as it was 25 or 30 years ago."

That said, “This time of year, a lot of members and businesses rely on the winter visitor season through the end of March to really make their year.”

Watch and Wonder

Michael Hempel and his father bought Watch and Wonder in April. He says business has been good at the watch repair shop and retail store in Safeway Plaza on Duval Mine Road in Sahuarita.

“It has been steady and we're only seeing more and more busyness as snowbirds and everyone comes to town,” he said. “Everyone needs stuff done and repairs have been our bread and butter since we took over.”

 Historically, the shop has seen “a big influx during the holidays — Thanksgiving, Christmas, even Valentine's — and a little after, just before they all go back home to their summer homes," he said.

Hempel said he has seen retail sales increase along with watch repairs. 

“For gifts, they like the fashion jewelry, it’s fairly inexpensive, nothing too crazy,” he said. “They like earrings and bracelets. You can get something for everybody, watches for example."

The Book Shop

The Book Shop in Green Valley Village is also seeing an influx of winter visitors, owner Dianne Sevick said.

“It’s people coming back from their summer homes and catching up on their reading because they are busy all summer, and they know to get their orders in for Christmas early so we can get them,” she said. “There's just a lot more traffic because it's not 106 outside.”

Sevick, who has worked at the Book Shop about 14 years and has owned it for 10, said sales nearly double in the December-March timeframe compared to summer.

The most popular gift items are current hardbacks.

“Some people come in with a list,” she said. “I had a lady who must have had 15 books on the list curated from family and a variety of titles.”

She said gift certificates are popular during this time too. 

“I have gift certificates that are very popular among spouses. I have women who say, ‘If my husband comes in I want that book there…point him in the right direction.’ So we have a new gift card this year and I think that will be popular.”

Desert Bloom 

The Desert Bloom Garden Center has a mix of snowbirds doing regular shopping and people buying gifts leading up to Christmas. The center is in the east parking lot of Green Valley Village, next to El Rodeo restaurant.

Owner Kelley Kriner bought the business two years ago and said this is their busy time.

“We are busy pretty much up until Christmas, then we have a little pause and then it picks back up again mid-February...Valentine's Day,” she said. “Then we stay busy all spring until everyone leaves or it gets real hot.”

Kriner said holiday shoppers are often seeking cool-weather annuals, Talavera ornaments and special arrangements.

“There's a thing called Christmas cactus, so they come for those,” she said. “A lot of people do gift cards and a lot of people do little holiday party arrangements, like if they are invited to somebody's house for a holiday party.”

Best estimates over the past two decades indicate Green Valley loses about one-third of its population in summer. 

South West Tattoo

While tattoos might not be a common holiday gift, Candy Moulis, owner of South West Tattoo in Green Valley, said she’s hoping people will see the value in the uniqueness of it.

“How often do you get a tattoo during Christmas? And it's just an easy gift that people who have been wanting a tattoo are going to love, same thing with piercings.”

The shop opened in October last year, so Moulis said it’s hard to make revenue projections on what holiday shopping will bring to the shop. It also isn't traditionally the busy season for tattoo shops.

“We got the snowbirds back which picks up business all over and last year we were only open about a month before December came, so snowbirds didn't really even know about us,” she said. “This year, I'm hopeful the snowbirds have already heard about us or experienced us last year before they left and will come to get some tattoos in the holiday season.”

She has been a bartender in the area and said snowbirds play a big part in businesses overall here.

“It's called ‘season’….I was a bartender here and we were always like, ‘Get ready for season,’” she said. “When October comes around it's like you better get ready, you better get staffed. I think it's going to be ‘season’ here just like anyone else out here. Green Valley doubles.”

Moulis said typically for tattoo shops, tax season is one of the busier times, but COVID-19 last year made it hard to gauge.

“I noticed it wasn't like last year, but last year people were barely recovering from COVID and getting their finances back,” she said.