Nakusp held its annual Candlelight & Cake ladies night event on Nov.18
From 6-9 p.m., five shops were open, Prima Materia, Jennifer’s Chocolate, Home Grown Market, Betty’z Edje, and The Treasure Trove. Women were free to walk from shop to shop, browsing, shopping, or just enjoying the company of other women.
Most of the stores had some kind of snack available. Some had hot chocolate, others mulled wine, or apple cider, along with various edibles.
Some shop owners used the snacks as a way to debut a seasonal item.
“I’m doing my classic Mayan hot chocolate, and homemade marshmallows,” said Jennifer Cross of Jennifer’s Chocolates. “This year we also did two Christmas truffles to debut our Christmas line of truffles.”
Cross thinks Candlelight & Cake is a good way to kick off the Christmas season.
“This marks the beginning of Christmas, I feel. The fact that it snowed a couple of days ago was just perfect,” she said. “We got our first snow, we got our ladies night, and now we’re in full swing for the Christmas season.”
Other shop owners agreed.
“It gets us geared up for the festive season,” said Autumn Emerald of Betty’z Edje. “It gets us decorating, and pumped.”
Prizes were to be had as well. When a woman made a purchase, she could enter her name and phone number for a chance to win a gift certificate at the end of the night.
Women in the village appreciated the fact that an evening was set aside for them.
“It’s a good idea,” said Chris Dixon. “You get to see all kinds of women you don’t normally see.”
Some found the event was a more relaxing way to shop.
“I think it’s more fun that way, it’s more social,” said Susan Smith, one of the women who attended the event. “Typically if a man’s along, you don’t want to spend a lot of time chatting. This is much more relaxed and chatty, and fun.”
The event also gave women a chance to really browse around.
“Some of these stores, I might zip in and buy something, but I don’t sort of browse and look around,” Smith continued. “I’ve learned a lot about the different stores.”