Tooele’s downtown businesses have decorated their buildings once again for the holidays — a move they’re hoping will lure more shoppers into the area.

Jim Haines, promotions committee chairman for the Tooele Downtown Alliance, said Tooele City has always taken responsibility for the overall decorating of Main Street for Christmas. However, he said each individual business owner downtown was in charge of decorating their own storefront windows. He hopes the Christmas decorations will help showcase all that has happened in downtown Tooele this past year.

“There are more stores downtown than there were last year, and much work is being done to revitalize downtown and bring more businesses here,” Haines said. “People now have more of a reason to come downtown and save themselves a trip into Salt Lake.”

Some of the newest independent stores downtown include Grandma’s Closet and The Budget and Clearance Center, which is a division of Liddiard’s Home Furnishings that supplies discounted furniture. A new restaurant called Sostanza is slated to open in the old Melina’s restaurant spot on Main Street next year, and Allen’s Floor Coverings recently moved its location from the Utah Industrial Depot to downtown Main Street.

Wendy Conklin, manager of Sweat Pea Boutique on Main Street, said her decorations will help people recognize what kind of store Sweat Pea is. She also said that more people will likely be interested in what downtown has to offer this holiday season.

“We have presents and Christmas dresses shown in our front window, and we have Christmas bulbs all around on the inside of the building,” she said. “I think people will look at the lights and be interested in what’s down here and what our store provides. I think more of the community will come support downtown when they take notice of all the Christmas decorations.”

Homebodies is also featuring Christmas decorations to help get customers into the holiday spirit, according to sales clerk Ada Goodworth.

“For our storefront window we’ve put out vinyl, snowflakes, winter trees and a red bird, and we have red cardinals on the inside of our building,” Goodworth said. “We also have a Christmas Tree, ornaments, wreaths, tabletop florals, and other home decor on our inside.”

Pete Allen, owner of Allen’s Floor Coverings, said he has supplied not only decorations to appeal to customers, but also special discounts for them as well.

“We have our windows painted, and we’re planning on putting our lights up today,” he said. “We’re also doing our end-of-year liquidation sale, where all ceramic tile is below cost and we have discounts on our in-stock rolls.”

Merchants said events like the annual Tooele County Chamber of Commerce’s Santa Parade, held last Saturday, also help bring in business.

“We did do a little bit more business on the day of the parade, and I’m hoping we will see more business throughout the rest of the holiday season,” Conklin said.

Goodworth said the Santa Parade may have also been what brought in much business for Homebodies last week.

“The Santa Parade may have brought in more customers, but it was also on the first Saturday in December,” she said. “Usually business picks up on the first Saturday of December.”

Julie Lemmon, nail technician for Grandma’s Closet, said she also saw a few more people than usual on the day of the parade. She said that her store has also been well decorated for the holiday season.

“We have lights on the inside and painted front windows, and we’re going to decorate our store even more,” she said. “I’m hoping the holiday season and decorations will bring more business here. We can always use more business in downtown Tooele.”

Patricia Davidson, an employee at Anything Cute Boutique in Tooele, said she has seen an increase of customers since the beginning of this month, which may have been caused by more people checking out downtown over the holidays.

“I’ve seen a lot of people, which includes families, grandmothers, husbands, boyfriends and first-timers, come in since the beginning of this month,” she said. “A lot of people who come in say they noticed the clothes in our windows and just had to stop in.”

Doug Radunich: dougrad@tooeletranscript.com