Syracuse-area retailers, battered by Covid, find a strategy: appointment-only shopping
Updated Dec 14, 2020;
Posted Dec 14, 2020
Caeresa Richardson poses in her women s fashion boutique, Gypsy Freedom, in downtown Syracuse. Rick Moriarty | rmoriarty@syracuse.com
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Syracuse, N.Y. It didn’t take long for Caeresa Richardson to figure out how to attract customers hesitant to visit her new women’s clothing boutique in downtown Syracuse during the coronavirus pandemic.
Richardson offers private one-hour virtual and in-person shopping appointments at Gypsy Freedom, which she opened at 312 S. Salina St. in August. The private shopping opportunities have proven popular, she said.
“Some customers don’t want to be around people,” she said. “With a private appointment, there’s not the risk that there’s a lot of people or we’re over capacity and now they’ll have to wait. They get that dedicated shopping hour.”