Vermont’s Capital City is in a festive mood. The state Christmas tree lights up the Statehouse lawn. Garland and lights are wrapped around light poles in the downtown district. Shops and restaurants are decorated for the holidays too and ready to welcome you.
Retailers always wish for a successful holiday season. But this year in Montpelier, they are banking on it. Many need strong holiday sales to fully recover from this summer’s floods.
Montpelier suffered more damage to its business community during July’s flooding than anywhere else in Vermont. When looking at distribution of the 500+ Business Emergency Gap Assistance Program (BEGAP) grants from the Vermont Department of Economic Development, about 45% of them went to businesses and nonprofits in Washington County. The $20,000,000 grant program was designed to help cover part of the cost for repairing and replacing items lost in the flood.
Above: The Quirky Pet and Delish Montpelier's Sweet Shop on December 1, 2023. Below: The Quirky Pet and Delish Montpelier's Sweet Shop on October 16, 2023.
In Montpelier’s downtown corridor of Main, State, and Langdon Streets the devastation was immense. About 30 retailers and restaurants, plus two theaters and one hotel were awarded more than $1.3 million in BEGAP funds.
Above: Onion River Outdoors on December 1, 2023. Below: Onion River Outdoors working to get set up in their new Main Street location on October 16 after being flooded out of their Langdon Street store.
That covers just a fraction of the physical damage these businesses suffered, and it doesn’t account at all for their lost revenue.
Some of those businesses remain closed as they rebuild their space or evaluate whether to reopen at all, but many reopened in time for Black Friday, anxious to take advantage of the holiday shopping season.
On a recent afternoon, DED stopped by several retailers who won a BEGAP award to see how they’re doing. They all said they were grateful for the grant.
“Thank God, we got it. It was able to pay for a cooler we desperately needed,” said Sonja Grahn of Botanica Florals. Grahn and her sister have run the State Street flower shop since 2011. They say 42 inches of water tore their store apart, destroying the inventory and infrastructure. Everything had to be thrown away.
Above: Botanica Florals on December 1, 2023. Below: Botanica Florals on October 16, 2023.
“It’s hard to walk outside and see your life’s work on the sidewalk,” said Grahn, but she is optimistic about Botanica Florals’ future. She knows her business is not as reliant on holiday shoppers as others in her community. She is hoping shoppers will keep Montpelier in mind as they look for gifts to help those stores start the New Year on a positive note.
Several doors down at a deli called Yellow Mustard, manager Noah Hodgdon says following the flood he’s witnessed a huge change in the community.
Yellow Mustard was closed for just three weeks after the storm. He says since they’ve reopened, “people have been immensely patient. It’s like when you take something away, they realize what’s gone. It’s like there’s more gratitude among the people of Montpelier.”
You can show your gratitude this holiday season by shopping and dining in Montpelier. Montpelier Alive has launched a “Spread The Love” campaign. If you purchase anything of any value in eight downtown stores of your choosing, you can enter a raffle to win a gift card to any business you wish.
You can also help flood damaged businesses around Vermont by buying a ‘Vermont Strong’ license plate. Half the proceeds will go to BEGAP.