Above / For 2016, according to owner Bill Anderson, Oswald’s is beating the heat with its annual summer sidewalk sale inside throughout the aisles of the spacious store in Naperville Plaza.
For many of us, the 4th of July has a way of serving as a benchmark of summer.
Already thousands of residents have experienced swimming at Centennial Beach, band concerts in Central Park, local, the Riverwalk and Exchange Club of Naperville’s Ribfest.  Kids are enrolled in summer camps from Naper Settlement to local parks to the Y.
Some families have taken summer vacations and return by the end of the July 4th weekend, while others are in the middle of packing with plans to leave soon.
And right after Independence Day, local shopping destinations set up for their annual sidewalk sales, counting almost as many days since school ended as when school begins again.
“When I was a kid the downtown sidewalk sale was always a fun event,” recalled Bill Anderson the other day in a blast to customers. Mindful that Oswald’s Pharamacy used to be downtown, he reminisced about what used to be. “The storefronts back in the 60s and 70s were mostly retailers and they would fill the sidewalks throughout town with their displays.”
Anderson remembers Horsley’s clothes store where Sullivan’s Steakhouse is today. Horsely’s was right across Jackson Ave. from where Dean’s Clothing still is located on Main Street. Up until the mid-1990s, both businesses would put up tents to attract bargain buyers and “duel it out in the July heat.”
Other stores such as Jan’s Gift Shop, Toenniges Jewelers, Roseland Draperies, Scott’s Five and Dime and The Main Store brought back memories of the sale when Thursday was by far the busiest day of the three-day sale, Anderson added.
And afterward, folks would meet in Central Park for the weekly Thursday evening band concert, just as they do in 2016.
“The threat of a sudden July thundershower was always there, sending merchants and customers scurrying for cover,” Anderson said.
After the 141-year-old business moved to Naperville Plaza in 2004, Anderson began holding Oswald’s Annual Sidewalk Sale under cover in front of the store. Last year, however, Oswald’s was in the middle of enlarging the store to accommodate its new Medical Equipment showroom, so they opted not to have a sale.
This year, the sale is back, bigger than ever. And to beat the heat, merchandise fills more than two entire aisles inside the spacious store.
“We have two entire aisles filled with all sorts of deals and closeouts,” said Anderson, noting opportunities to save as much as 75 percent on all sorts of merchandise, whether gift items, toys, puzzles, Christmas and other seasonal goodies.
Click any image to enlarge the Indoor Sidewalk Sale at Oswald’s through July 9, 2016.
[shareprints gallery_id=”62559″ gallery_type=”squares” gallery_position=”pos_center” gallery_width=”width_100″ image_size=”small” image_padding=”0″ theme=”dark” image_hover=”false” lightbox_type=”slide” titles=”true” captions=”true” descriptions=”true” comments=”true” sharing=”true”]The annual summer sidewalk sales at Naperville Plaza and in downtown Naperville with three-days of bargains and discounts for deal finders are held at the same time.
For 2016, sidewalk sales run July 7-9. And be sure to return after sidewalk sales!
