Shop owner stands behind Labor Day sales

As the roads and many malls fill in Idaho Falls, the downtown area is often quiet during the Labor Day holiday.

“Usually it’s hard to find a parking space down here during a work day, but today it’s nice and quiet,” said longtime Idaho Falls resident Chris Monson.

Monson said most people were at the mall or at the East Idaho State Fair in Blackfoot, but he spent his day checking out what downtown had to offer.

“In the world that we have, there is a lot of competition from online retailers and big-box stores. These local shops need that kind of support,” said Monson.

Monson found his way into Idaho Mountain Trading, one of the only downtown stores that was open and offering Labor Day deals. The shop has been offering Labor Day deals for decades and management said they have been really successful.

“Labor Day is our most profitable day of the month,” said Idaho Mountain Trading owner Richard Napier. “I think a lot of shops are just locked into the tradition of it. I try to encourage my peers because we found out decades ago that by staying open we had a big sale. We had a lot of customers coming in, a lot of people coming in for hours.”

Napier said there are quite a few people who decide to stay in town on Labor Day, just looking for something to do. He said he hopes more shops will decide to benefit from the holiday, since downtown is a vibrant area for the community.

“Downtown is the heart and soul of any city, and if you don’t have a vibrant downtown you really don’t have much of a city. We’re lucky we have a beautiful downtown. It’s well-maintained and we have the Snake River right next to it,” said Napier.