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NSBNews.net videos and photos by Henry Frederick / The third annual "Christmas on Canal," a CRA-sponsored event, was a site to behold Friday night with the tree lighting as shown in the video to the left. In the second video, City Commissioner Jim Hathaway makes a pitch for New Smyrna Beach residents to shop there. Even with Santa, escorted by CRA "consultant" Holly Smith, horse rides and a choir, far more people were shopping at the new Walmart.
NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- The mayor was there in a bright red shirt under his blazer, the big artificial tree stood tall there, and so were several hundred people for "Christmas on Canal," the CRA-sponsored event with a cool $10,000 to spark the spirit of shopping. several miles away on State Road 44, four to five times as many people were actively shopping at the new Walmart supercenter.
The figure doesn't include the installation of the tree, purchased three years ago by the CRA at the request of merchants Cindy Jones and Debbie Petersen.
Despite the millions of CRA dollars pumped into Canal Street since the mid-1980s, and the more recent holiday branding, stores on Canal struggle to attract customers yearround.
The divide has become even more pronounced with the Walmart opening a week before Thanksgiving.
Still, the politicians gave speeches at Friday night's tree lighting, parents and grandparents lined up with the little ones to have their picture taken with Santa and the few merchants open for business put on a brave face as browsing more than shopping was the norm at Friday night's tree lighting ceremony at Christmas Park.
This year's crowd clearly outnumbered those of the last two years combined and the tree was relocated from the edge of the Intracoastal waterway to the cozy park aptly named for the holiday many years ago.
