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Steamboat Springs — Just before 10 p.m. Thursday, the lights that illuminate cowboy hats and jeans in the display windows of F.M. Light & Sons were still on as three staff members worked to close the downtown Steamboat Springs retailer.

“We stay open because it’s worth it,” General Manager Del Lockhart said. “Downtown could benefit overall if more stores are open at night.”

Since the start of summer, he said, his store has received 15 percent of its business from 6 to 10 p.m.

Late night sale totals are similar for Zirkel Trading owner Steve Hitchcock, who said 16 percent of his sales occur from 6 to 9 p.m.

A couple of blocks away, Daniela Kennedy’s Homesteader kitchen appliance store closes three hours earlier, at 6 p.m. But the store owner wasn’t concerned about missing out on any late-night sales. Kennedy said that after 6 p.m.,

she sees foot traffic downtown slowing down.

“Nobody wants to buy a coffee pot at 8 p.m.,” she said. “We’ve tried to stay open later a couple of times because of course we want to make more money, but it wasn’t worth the extra staffing.”

Many merchants who operate in downtown Steamboat say they stay open later in the summer because the nighttime shopper accounts for much of their business, but others say they cannot afford to adjust their staffing to accommodate late-night hours, or it’s not worth it.

After regularly receiving complaints from downtown visitors and tourists who say some stores close their doors too early, Mainstreet Steamboat Springs Manager Tracy Barnett said she would like to see more businesses keep their doors open until at least 8 p.m.

“It used to be when I moved here 36 years ago, stores were open a half-day Saturday and not at all on Sunday, but that has changed because of demand,” she said.

In the latest Mainstreet newsletter, Barnett included an email from a visitor from Florida who complained that businesses downtown Steamboat closed too early, making them question whether to keep the Yampa Valley on their list of travel destinations.

Barnett said the email, and other verbal complaints she’s received about downtown’s business hours, has her thinking that some merchants should extend their hours past 6 p.m. because the 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. model no longer works.

“You can’t do business the way you’ve always done business,” she said. “We’ve got some very savvy business owners downtown, but there are others that need to update their practices. You have to do what the customer wants.”

She said the downtown area is receiving more foot traffic this summer than in years past, and businesses could benefit from making a few changes, including extending their hours.

Her suggestions for downtown merchants also include using devices that count and record when a customer enters the store and cash registers that will tell merchants when they are doing the most business.

Barnett said downtown business hours have been a constant focus of conversations among the 120 businesses she represents from Third to 13th and Yampa to Oak streets.

“We have brought this up time and time again, and that’s where I get the excuses from some businesses,” she said. “People have said they’ve tried staying open later and it doesn’t work, but you have to do it consistently for a certain amount of time so people know you’re going to be open.”

Barnett suggested that businesses that close at 6 p.m. could try staying open until 8 p.m. a couple of nights a week to gauge the amount of business they can receive later at night. And if they think their product won’t sell late at night, she suggested owners showcase items that would be attractive to a tourist in town waiting for a dinner reservation or looking to shop after that meal.

Robert Hukriede, owner of the Steamboat Home consignment store at 10th Street and Lincoln Avenue, said that for now, he’ll continue closing at 6 p.m.

“We want the local business, and staying open late is good for tourists, but the locals are important,” he said. “It would be hard for us to staff to stay open later.”

But Hukriede said that since he’s been open for only four months, he’s still gauging whether it would be worthwhile to stay open later.

“I’m still experimenting,” he said. “If I were to find I was losing business, I would consider staying open later.”

To reach Scott Franz, call 970-871-4210 or email ScottFranz@SteamboatToday.com