Free Parking, Small Business Saturday Specials in Downtown Morgantown | 104.5 FM & 1440 AM | The voice of Morgantown

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Businesses in the Morgantown area are preparing to open stores for one of the biggest shopping weekends of the year.

Downtown Morgantown shops have a variety of specials, promotions and unique gifts offered by local artists. For business owner Stephanie Swain, who runs Hoot and Howl in Downtown Morgantown, she’s expecting a decent crowd this weekend as part of the annual vacation.

“It’s a great time downtown, a lot of people are coming and we’ve got some specials and gift bags and refreshments,” Swaim said of what her shop will be gearing up for on Saturday. “There’s just a lot happening and it’s a really good time,” she said.

Hoot and Howl and other downtown businesses will stock goods that are made locally or in the United States, and when people support local businesses, they create economic activities that benefit their neighbors.

“We have artists in our shop that are local,” Swain said. “So we have things that are made here in West Virginia, here in Morgantown, and here in the United States because we’ve grown to that point,” she said.

For local businesses like Swaim’s, Small Business Saturday is a major business event each year. Even for larger, locally owned businesses, shopping vacations can contribute up to 65 percent of revenue directly to the local economy. This in turn supports the employees who work in these companies and their families.

“There’s all these amazing things in these big department stores that we get, in the form of Christmas decorations and our trees and things like that, but we also have this community of people who are doing everything we can to create really cool places for our.” provide community. ‘ Swain said of the value of shopping locally.

This won’t be the only special event downtown during the holidays. Swain said there will be other holiday-themed events and activities throughout December, giving area residents the opportunity to explore all that downtown Morgantown has to offer.

“They throw great events and you’re going to have a lot of opportunities to get some really nice gifts for the holidays,” Swain said.

Parking in downtown Morgantown is free through Sunday, November 27th.