Getting to downtown Fargo after work to do your Christmas shopping can be a challenge, with so many great boutiques and specialty stores there closing around six. Part of the downtown area's appeal is its unique selection of independent stores and restaurants, acknowledge most store owners.
"We're an independent group of cats," said C. Lizzy's Cari Luchau. "So we run independent businesses."
But thanks to a concerted effort among those businesses, you have an opportunity to do some late-night shopping, as well as do your part for a good cause.
Thursday night downtown was the night to go shopping for "Cheerity."
Participating stores held a silent auction with donated items, snacks, drinks, and late-night shopping hours.
Proceeds went to support the Great Plains Food Bank, one of downtown's longest-running great causes.
"We wanted to do something to help out someone in downtown, and that's why we decided to devote this night to the Great Plains Food Bank," says Luchau, surrounded late Thursday by shoppers -- some of whom are literally waving credit cards in the air. "We are hoping people are extending giving Tuesday all the way into Thursday."
One shopper, heading away from the checkout stand at Unglued, a store featuring handmade and vintage items, said she was already downtown when she discovered to her surprise the store was still open.
"I really didn't think it'd be open," said Brooke Stewart. "I was staring at that six o'clock sign, and they said, come on in!
"My roommate just brought home a live Christmas tree," she adds, showing off her nifty new find -- a throw pillow designed to look like a log of wood. "Right next to it -- it'll be great."
If you missed last night's ''Cheerity' event, the late-night hours continue downtown each Thursday until Christmas with a different theme each night.
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