In a tradition that’s now more than a decade old, the city of Decatur is making a special effort to encourage area residents to keep their holiday shopping dollars in the community. Terrific Thursdays in November and December are designed to make shopping and dining in Decatur easy, fun and an economic boost for the city.

In this holiday shopping season “mallternative,” businesses are staying open until 9 or 10 p.m. on Thursdays through Dec. 15, luring customers with a variety of bargains and special offers at downtown Decatur shops, galleries and restaurants.

“We want to help shoppers make holiday buying a pleasure, not a hassle, and support local businesses at the same time,” said Catherine Lee, development services coordinator for the city of Decatur.

In prior years, the city provided a mini-bus to drive shoppers around, but city officials have discovered that Terrific Thursdays participants prefer to park once and walk around town. Some participating businesses in addition to staying open late, are offering beverages, snacks and special offers. For examples, Parker’s On Ponce offers free appetizers with a receipt from a participating Terrific Thursday shop, and Boogaloos Boutique, in addition to offering discounts on merchandise, is serving wine and hors d’oeuvres.

In December the old bearded man himself joins in the fun. Santa will be visiting shops and restaurants within the city limits.

This year, participating businesses are:  

Alexia Gallery

Blue Elephant Books 

Blue Moon Designs

Boogaloos Boutique 

Boutique Karma 

Café Alsace 

Cakes & Ale Bakery

Cook’s Warehouse & Sherlock’s

Wine Merchant 

Farm Burger 

Green Mosaics 

Greene’s Fine Foods

Heliotrope

HomeGrown 

Little Shop of Stories

Mane Street Hair Company 

Mingei World Arts 

New Orleans SnoBall Cafe

Parker’s On Ponce

Salon Red 

Salon Red Kids

Sawicki’s

Squash Blossom

Sushi Avenue

Sushi Avenue on the Square

The 17 Steps 

The Seen Gallery

Wild Oats and Billy Goats

Worthmore Jewelers