Conway business owners say holiday decorations help sales during off season

Yahoo

11-02-2025

CONWAY, S.C. (WBTW) — The city of Conway has transformed into the 'city of love' as town officials say decorating for the holidays helps attract visitors during the off season.
The ribbon cutting for the Conway Riverwalk expansion kicked off the city's Valentine's Day events, but they're showing love all week long.
June Wood, public information officer for the city of Conway, said Christmas decorations were taken down just after New Years, but some stuff got to stay.
'We've transitioned a lot of those lights into pink and purples and reds throughout the city,' Wood explained.
She said they started planning for Valentine's Day between Halloween and Christmas.
'We keep a lot of the canopy lights in the trees and some of the building lights we've left up,' Wood said of the decorations around the city.
She said this isn't the city's first year celebrating cupid's holiday, but each year gets bigger and better.
'We're going to have some gondola boat rides, we have some romantic movie nights that people can attend, we have a Valentine's Day village that people can come to and shop at,' Wood said. 'They'll be some unique Valentine's Day type of vendors they can come and enjoy.'
Wood also said the vendors for the village will be different from Christmas. Some include sweet treats, flowers, and even a kissing booth.
'We know those are ways to get people to want to come to the area, and our restaurants have told us they've seen an increase; our shops are open and changing their hours so they can accommodate those shoppers that are going to be here,' Wood said.
Sean Kobos, owner of Chanti's Pizza in Conway, said the decorations bring the city to life, giving visitors a reason to explore.
'We get a lot more tourism during those months, I've had people tell us they've came all the way from Ohio to see the city of Halloween,' Kobos said.
Kobos explained that during the winter months, business goes up by about 30%.
Wood said many business owners have told the city they're interested in moving their businesses to the area because they appreciate what it's doing.
If you're interested in going, the Valentine's Day Village will be open from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday through Sunday.
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