Customers poured into nearly every store on First Street on Saturday, Nov. 7 as part of Riverside’s first annual Route 218 Treasure Trek.

In collaboration with shops in nearby Ainsworth, more than a dozen Riverside staples and newly opened stores alike participated. From 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., restaurants, boutiques and hobby shops enticed passersby by promoting their wares outside and in the shop. At the end of the day, every participating store held a raffle for gift cards.

While many store owners said the event was a success, some said it wouldn’t have been nearly as successful were it not for social media.

“We’ve seen more local people today than we’ve seen since we’ve opened,” said Rusty Rogerson, of the Old and New on 22 antique store. He pointed to Facebook as “the key” in bringing customers in. A few other owners also said that platform was a major reason behind their foot traffic on Saturday

Instagram was another social media platform that owners had success raising awareness on.

“Some people who maybe aren’t [Instagram] friends with Jesi [Cole, owner of 3.29 Designs apparel] are friends of me, but they know that we’ll both be here together, so it basically grows all our businesses that way,” said Ashlee Fisher, owner of 190north décor store.

Fisher and Cole shared a space in the chamber of commerce building to promote their products.

Thanks to online advertising, store owners were able to showcase their other wares to more than just their fellow Riverside residents. Customers came from as far away as Ankeny, and Rogerson said he even shipped a shirt over to Lincoln, Nebraska.

Store owners said the coronavirus pandemic had little bearing on the number of customers who visited.

“A lot of people right now are a little more comfortable coming in with a mask on,” Kelsey Goff of the Down the Street Boutique said.

Still, there were some precautions to be had.

“Obviously we’re a bit cautious. We don’t pack it in quite as full as we normally would, but I don’t think we would have had a different outcome if there wasn’t a pandemic happening,” Fisher said.

Fisher and others discussed how the sunny skies and warm weather probably drove people to shop more than the pandemic might have led them to avoid the Treasure Trek.

Goff said the main draw for her store and several other vendors would be gifts and decorations for Christmas.

“I think the biggest factor today was the weather,” Laurie Calkins, who runs Grandpa’s Barn Boards, said of customer turnout.

“It was so nice that it brought a lot of people in.”

Many vendors said their businesses had seen a boost thanks to the event. Many were looking forward to the Treasure Trek becoming an annual occasion.

“It’s just a good group of people,” Calkins said of her fellow vendors. “This morning was just tremendous.”