Each merchant will go live on their own Facebook Page for 15 minutes. During their 15 minutes, ​merchants may showcase and sell their products and services, give a tour of their store, share a little bit of their story, give demonstrations of a product, or anything else they would like to share.

With COVID-19 numbers rising, there are people who may not be comfortable coming downtown to shop in person yet. The goal of these virtual shopping nights is to connect businesses with those customers, new customers, and people who love to visit Alpena and don’t make their home here.

This event is a great opportunity to get a little holiday shopping done locally or to scope out what you might want to put on your own wish list.

The schedule of businesses going live and participating is outlined below:

Courtesy Photo Downtown merchant The Local Basket Case will be one of the participants in Wednesday’s Virtual Shopping Night sponsored by the Alpena Downtown Development Authority. Above, a shopper peruses the merchandise at The Local Basket Case.

¯ 4:30 p.m.: Family Enterprise

¯ 4:45 p.m.: Alpena Salt Spa

¯ 5 p.m.: Traveling Ladders

¯ 5:15 p.m.: Soaps and Such

¯ 5:30 p.m.: Parallel 45 Books & Gifts

¯ 5:45 p.m.: The Local Basket Case

¯ 6 p.m.: Olivet Book & Gift

“We hosted two Virtual Shopping Nights this past spring during the lockdown and received nothing but positive feedback from the merchants that participated and the people who attended the Facebook Live video,” said DDA Marketing and Outreach Coordinator Kingsli Kraft. “Even after the time of COVID, it’s likely that we will continue to have events like this.It’s a fun way for customers here in Alpena and outside of our region to engage with the business they love and the people who run them and make this community such a warm and inviting place.”

For more information, check out the Facebook Event at ​https://fb.me/e/ 1JFOZEuO6​.