For many of us, cries of “Today Only!” are cause for a spontaneous shutdown of the auditory sense. Most of us have become so inured to the constant barrage of advertising claims that the shouts of hucksters calling for immediate action on a deal that won’t be available tomorrow often have just the opposite of the intended effect.

If you’re one of those people, set aside your skepticism for the day and make sure to take advantage of this “Today Only!” deal, because this one is truly special.

Today only, downtown Suffolk will host a selection of merchants you will not find on Sunday or Monday. The city’s “ReStored” pop-up shops event will bring a special group of about 20 retailers to Suffolk’s commercial hub, and you might kick yourself if you miss it.

The event gives retailers an opportunity to test the waters in small spaces of normally vacant downtown buildings, it gives folks an unusual selection of retail shops to visit and it helps existing merchants and restaurateurs by making downtown a true shopping destination, even if only for a day.

Last year’s pop-up shops event was wildly successful, and organizers have worked to improve on the formula this time around. Merchants will be more centrally located, more restaurants will be involved, and there will be more children’s activities during the event this time around.

The goal of the multi-faceted event is to get more people downtown and entice retailers to open brick-and-mortar locations in Suffolk. But officials from the Department of Economic Development, which is sponsoring the event, recognize that bringing more businesses downtown is a long-term effort. Still, as the saying goes, the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.

In this case, that one step takes place today only, so don’t miss out. The pop-up shops will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. only. Come on downtown and check them out.