By Ngoc Vo

Merchants in the Downtown Troy area are organizing the annual Christmas Open House with an exciting after-dark raffle.

This year open house will be held on Saturday, Nov. 22 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday Nov. 23 from 1 to 5 p.m.

According to Leigh Anne Windham with the City of Troy, the open house has been going on for several years and has become a tradition.

“The purpose of this is to encourage people to shop locally and for the customers to take advantage of the specials and sales at various stores,” she said.

Windham said the event also helps to bring the holiday spirit to everyone participating. There will be an area on The Square with artificial snow for children to have a fun time playing in during the event. And, the festive mood will be enhanced with live performances including Christmas music.

During the after-dark event, customers can be entered in a drawing for 1,000 Downtown Dollars.

To be eligible, customers have to make three separate purchases, of $25 or more at shops and boutiques and $10 or more at eateries. Downtown dollars is a gift certificate program for downtown Troy, Windham said.

“It’s great to have the support from the mayor and the community in the event,” said Chelsea Haisten, the owner of E + Me. “Troy really depends on local support. This is how I put food on the table and pay for my daughter’s school and dance lessons. I wouldn’t be able to do that without our local customers.”

Morgan Nall from Glow Boutique also encouraged people to come see what the downtown stores have to offer.

“A lot of people shop in the Montgomery area because they don’t know how much we have here,” Nall said. “It’s important for Glow and other stores to work together to get customers coming to downtown.”

Kayla Thompson, a sale associate at Cotton Creek agreed, saying shopping locally is much more convenient for customers.

“We have a lot of brands here that you can only find in Birmingham or bigger cities,” Thompson said. “You don’t have to travel so far to buy Vineyard Vines or Southern Tide items.”

Shaunna West from Perfectly Imperfect said her store is trying to appeal to local customers as well, with sales such as 30% off storewide on Saturday, Nov. 22.

“We are all really excited to see the turnout of the open house,” West said. “We have put a lot of thoughts and efforts to treat our customer with great hospitality.”