By Mary O’KEEFE

Shoppers strolled down the boulevard looking for bargains and getting acquainted with local merchants on Saturday, which was exactly the goal of the first sidewalk sale sponsored by the La Cañada Flintridge Merchants Association.
“It was a big success. It was busy all day,” said Peggy Stevens, owner of the Apple Cart in the 1500 block of Foothill Boulevard in La Cañada.
This was the first merchant organized sidewalk sale on the boulevard, said Lisa Nelson who owns Frockx in the 1300 block of Foothill.
The members of the newly formed LCFMA worked together to get the word out about the sale to merchants and to the city officials.
“This is new for the city. They tried to work with us,” Nelson said. There were permitting and insurance issues that had to be worked out but in the end the event brought people to the stores which is what the association is all about.
“I think it made people aware of [our businesses] and that we need to keep the dollars local,” Stevens said.
The sale was along Foothill Boulevard. Merchants could bring tables out to the sidewalk or invite people inside their stores.
“People would stop by and say they had been waiting for something like this.  They said this [type of sidewalk sale] was in Santa Monica and Newport,” Nelson added.
Both Nelson and Stevens said the event was a nice move forward sponsored by the association.
“It has been a difficult marriage getting the city and merchants together but it is working,” Nelson said.
The association has already begun planning the next sidewalk sale. The date has tentatively been set for Sept. 18.