If the crowd was any indication, the first night of Brewton’s organized holiday shopping on Thursday was successful.

“I went downtown fairly early around 4 p.m. and there were already lots of people walking around,” said Michelle Hart, executive assistant with the Greater Brewton Area Chamber of Commerce. “I was very pleased at what I saw. As far as I know it was very successful. There was lots of good food and a good variety of things to buy.”

Carol Fountain at the Treasure Chest said the store, which was also celebrating its 25th anniversary, had a lot of traffic on Thursday.

“Business was wonderful yesterday,” Fountain said. “There were lots of people who commented on our being here for 25 years. Some were very surprised to find that we have been here that long. We had lots of people stop by and they were still coming at closing time.”

NDI’s Cracked Pot employees were kept busy all day.

“It was very successful,” manager Joan Archer said. “We actually did well all day and still had customers at 7 p.m. It was probably 7:30 before the last customer left. I would say that the day was absolutely successful.”

Photographer Clay Lisenby of The L House had a successful visit from Santa, who sat for photographs with children.

“We had around 40 sittings and some of them were of more than one person,” Lisenby said. “The Phi Theta Kappa face painting had a good business. I thought if was a pretty good turnout. We had worried because Santa paid a visit to the school that day, but we had plenty of pre-school children to come in. I saw lots of new faces and the exposure was very good for us.”

Local stores will continue to celebrate with other upcoming open houses and special events.

Hart said the next step will be the concentration on the stores and shops in the northern part of town.

On Dec. 2, those participating will be Brewton Storage and Laundry, Brewton YMCA, David‘s Catfish, The Oaks Cafe, Gulf Winds Credit Union, Marvins and Dr. Carl McInnish. Restaurants will be offering some special menus and special prices on items that would make good gifts.

Brewton Storage and Laundry will have light refreshments, freebies and giveaways.

The YMCA will have refreshments and a drawing for a month membership. Gulf Winds will have custom designed jewelry, hand-painted glassware and windows, baked goods, candles, boiled and roasted peanuts, Mary Kay items and last, but not least, Mr. Bumble will be on hand to greet the children.

Marvins will have Christmas trees, a coloring contest and visits with Santa.

Dr. Carl McInnish’s office will be open with refreshments, visual training consultations and a sunglass sale, featuring Costa Del Mar, Oakley and Coach. There will be other specials and door prizes.

The Oaks Cafe will offer dinner specials and entertainment.