NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) — With the Christmas lighting finished on the New Haven Green, the Christmas season is officially here in the Elm City. 

Two New Haven small businesses told News 8 that the Christmas season is one of the most important parts of the year for them. It is a great opportunity for the community to support the community. 

Tom Maloney is celebrating the 41st year of owning Raggs, a New Haven fashion boutique located on Chapel Street. He has seen plenty of holiday seasons, each as special as the last. 

“To see people coming into the store that you’ve been selling all year long to come in to buy gifts, it is a great boost at the end of the year,” Maloney said.

The excitement continued with Maloney’s neighbor, King Kenney. He owns Grails, a New Haven music store. 

“We have apparel, we have toys, we have music, so it is very dynamic to see that dialogue between them and I,” King said of shoppers. “They learn, you know, ‘This might actually work for my partner or my daughter’, whatever the case may be.”

Unlike Raggs, Grails is new, having opened this downtown location in October, the store’s third spot. 

“The community show of support has been phenomenal. I’m not from here but I’ve been welcomed in,” Kenney said. 

That community is now eyeing gifts for loved ones, and some by supporting small businesses. 

“It also gives us a sense of community. Places that we can go, and we know the people that work there, and we can have a relationship with them,” Christmas shopper Alanna Edwards said. “I know I have definitely experienced that.” 

“It makes me more happy being able to buy from those small businesses,” Christmas shopper Tiara Pagan said. “It is almost like Christmas for them too, going to their businesses. It also makes my family happy because you’re not just getting it from the same places you normally get it from.”