Great Bend businesses have traditionally offered a winter sale where merchants clear the shelves of last year’s items to make room for spring inventory. In years past, there was the Icy Sidewalk Sale and the Cabin Fever Reliever Sale. This year’s version is the Winter Big Bag Sale.

City Coordinator Christina Hayes and staff with Explore Great Bend delivered blue cloth shopping bags to participating merchants last week. These reusable bags include the logos of the businesses and can be used for specials throughout the city.

How each business uses the bags is up to the merchants, Hayes said. Each store makes its own rules.

“It’s all about promoting each other in this (traditionally) slow month of retail sales,” she said.

For Susan Wright at The Wright Place Downtown Flea Market, the bags serve as a durable tote for items purchased in her store. “I run a sale all month in January,” she said. “Those are nice big bags.”

Other stores tied their sales directly to the promotion, some offering discounts on everything that fits in the bag, others focusing on winter clearance items.

The Barton County Historical Society made a few history grab bags for people to purchase.

You can’t fit a newspaper subscription in a bag, but Great Bend Tribune Publisher Judy Duryee said people can come in this week and get 10% off on a subscription – online or delivery. The Tribune also has the blue bags.

“It’s a good reminder for everyone to continue to shop local, no matter what time of year it is,” Duryee said.