Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday are all in the rearview mirror.

Now what?

A random sampling of small retailers in Moore County reveals how they plan to keep foot traffic up between now and Christmas.

The clock is ticking, because there are only 24 shopping days left, so let’s see how they plan to keep the cash register humming.

Keith McDaniel, co-owner of Green Gate Olive Oils and Green Gate Gourmet in Pinehurst, is emphasizing a holiday theme at both storefronts.

“We’re offering a six-pack of small bottles of olive oil in eight different varieties,” McDaniel says. “We’re selling a ton of those, which are just for the holidays. We’re trying to do things in the gourmet store that reflect the holidays, both in our cooking classes and our entertaining classes.”

Green Gate also recently launched a new website, with a preferred customer discount card that is keeping traffic flow steady.

“We’re also offering gift baskets and in-store specials,” McDaniel says.

In addition, Green Gate is one of many downtown Pinehurst merchants planning to stay open until 7 p.m. every Thursday between now and Christmas.

“It’s a collaborative effort,” McDaniel says.

Over at The Little Toy Shop in Southern Pines, co-owners Bob and Linda Levy are glowing in the wake of a weekend visit by Santa Claus that brought nearly 300 children to the Broad Street store.

“We don’t know what our numbers are, but we believe our sales are up,” Bob says. “So far, we’re very, very happy with the holiday season.”

He believes that one of the keys to a successful season is a store overflowing with toys.

“We just keep restocking and restocking toys,” Levy says. “We try to keep our stock full at all times. We have shipments coming in all the way until a few days before Christmas. People seem to react positively to that because everything we have is brand new and first quality.”

He adds that the specialty toy store especially appeals to male shoppers.

“We don’t have gimmicks, which especially works well with men,” he says. “They come in, get a toy, have it wrapped for free and they’re on their way with a smile on their face. They don’t want to mess with the hustle and bustle that you find at the big box stores.”

Betsy Saye, co-owner of One Eleven Main in downtown Aberdeen, says the store’s third holiday season is shaping up to be its best to date.

“Compared with last year, we’re probably 50 percent ahead based on our Thanksgiving weekend sales,” Saye says. “We anticipate that our numbers will increase as we move closer to Christmas. We’re hoping that our great start continues.”

Saye also gave kudos to town officials and the Aberdeen Business Guild for securing the Reindeer Fun Run this Saturday and hosting the Christmas parade the following Saturday.

“We anticipate a big turnout for those events,” she says.

There’s no doubt that Moore County residents have ample opportunity to shop local this holiday season.

It means a lot to the aforementioned retailers and the hundreds of other retailers in the county. Not to mention the ripple effect that buying local would have on our economy.

Contact Ted M. Natt Jr. at tnatt@thepilot.com.