[caption id="attachment_82931" align="alignleft" width="300"] Welcome, guests! Sharon Ferguson, the manager of the Nederland Visitor’s Center, welcomes guests at the front counter. PHOTO BY JAMIE
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Welcome, guests! Sharon Ferguson, the manager of the Nederland Visitor’s Center, welcomes guests at the front counter. PHOTO BY JAMIE LAMMERS[/caption]
Businesses in Nederland have been seeing a spike in their sales since summer started, with COVID-19 regulations starting to be lifted for the first time. One of the businesses that has experienced a spike is the Nederland Visitor’s Center. Manager Sharon Ferguson remembers the difficulties that came with managing the center during COVID.
Some employees decided to leave because they were immunocompromised or were simply uncomfortable with the potential of being exposed to the virus. Ferguson moved shifts around with those that worked at the town hall, who were looking for someone to work the front desk. Sales were hosted in their building temporarily.
Upon reopening the main visitor center building, Ferguson became the sole worker there, and the center adopted a policy of being “open remotely.” This allowed visitors to call the center at any time over a period of six months and set up an appointment. Despite these policies, not much happened business-wise during 2020.
In July 2021, however, sales started skyrocketing again. Ferguson compared the sales to their sales in 2019, which was a very successful year for them despite the closure of Boulder Canyon. Ferguson estimates that sales in July 2021 were 20% higher than sales in one of their most successful years.
Currently, five employees are working at the visitors center, and they are planning to stay open as much as they possibly can as they figure out their business plan through November. They are also working on an online store that will hopefully be available for Christmas shopping, and Ms. Ferguson is excited about the new merchandise designs available at the center.
Visit the Nederland Visitor’s Center at 45 W. 1st St. Their website is https:// nederlandvisitorcenter.square.site/ and their Facebook can be found at https:// facebook.com/TownofNederlandCO/. For more information, call 303-258- 3936 or email Sharon at sharonF@nederlandco.org.
