Lorain's Cookie Crawl brings visitors to Broadway businesses

LORAIN — Lorain's seventh annual Cookie Crawl saw 10,000 cookies make their way into the hands of visitors and locals alike on Saturday. The Small Business Saturday tradition saw more than 30 participating businesses this year, each with 24 dozen cookies to give away, organizer Mia Arredondo said. Last year businesses gave out their six dozen cookies in about half an hour, she said, so organizers tripled the amount for the two-hour event. Max Schaefer, executive director of Main Street Lorain, said many of the participating businesses were going above and beyond handing out cookies this year, including Unruly Salon and RE/MAX Above and Beyond hosting photos with Santa, the Lorain Library's main branch organizing children's crafts and the Ariel Broadway Hotel hosting DJ Rey. Less than half an hour after the event started, a steady stream of visitors poured into Jevon Terance's Boutique. Terance, Arredondo's husband, said the event helps increase foot traffic in his business every year. Schaefer agreed. "We've heard it year after year that it's one of the best days in sales," he said of participating shops. To help spare patrons from the winter cold, the Lorain County Visitor's Bureau sponsored a trolley, ferrying passengers to the farther stops like the Lorain Historical Society on West 10th Street. "The entire downtown uses this day as a kickoff to the holidays," Schaefer said. This year's event, with cookies purchased from Cakes by the Lake and Fligner's Market, screen printed tote bags from Lake Screen Printing and packaging put together by students in the Achievement through Community Education and Support (ACES) program is a far cry from seven years ago when Arredondo and Page Hernon, co-owner of Speak of the Devil bar, drew designs by hand on brown paper bags to package just a few dozen cookies for the 10 participating businesses that winter. "The goal is to get people to Broadway," Arredondo said. And they were successful. This year marked Unruly Salon's first cookie crawl, as the mother-daughter-run business usually closes over the holiday weekend. Elizabeth Yelenic and her mother, Nancy Bruce, welcomed visitors into their salon on Saturday and snapped photos of families with Santa, who made a special trip down from the North Pole before participating in Winterfest on Broadway later that afternoon. "There's a lot of people we haven't seen before and it's nice to introduce ourselves to the community," Yelenic said. The pair recently purchased the space next door and plans to expand their salon to include pedicures, manicures, waxing and other beauty treatments. Across the street Janasko Insurance opened its doors to hand out treats and invite passersby to meet some of its most popular staff members: cats Herb and Charles and Manager of First Impressions Banditt. Bandit, an 11-year-old golden retriever, was slacking on his job for much of the afternoon, sprawled out taking a nap on the floor and stirring only when children came to pet him. The cats, whose antics could be seen from the businesses windows, were wreaking havoc on a Christmas tree and a train set. "It's nice to see people on Broadway," owner Jim Janasko said. His father opened the insurance agency in 1972, and Janasko and his sons recently completed renovations to the facade, back and third floor of their building. In front of the old Lorain Arts Council building Sergio and Erika Hernandez alternated handing out cookies and warming their hands above a propane fire. The couple are renovating the space at 737 Broadway, with plans to rehab apartments on the second floor and rent out the first floor as retail space with possibly a bar in the basement. "It's been great with how cold it's been, I'm really amazed at the support," Sergio Hernandez said of the dozens of people walking along Broadway from business to business. This was real estate agents Jacki Jakacki and Pam Hakaim with RE/MAX Above and Beyond's second year participating in the cookie crawl. The crew's first year was just a week after they had opened, Jakacki said, and even then they easily gave out more than 300 cookies. Hakaim said the company is doing great on Broadway, with listings throughout Northeast Ohio. "We took the leap and came out this way and we love to be on the (main road)," Jakacki said. This year's Cookie Crawl sponsors included the Italian American Veterans Post 1, American Legion Post 30, Main Street Lorain and the Lorain County Visitor's Bureau. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.