By David Meade
The Saturday after Thanksgiving, Nov. 28, is Small Business Saturday. It is, of course, one day after Black Friday. You know the day when shoppers wake early, sometimes in the middle of the night, drive to Anderson or Greenville with thousands of others, sit in traffic, compete for decent parking spot, fight the crowds and stand in line to get a deal, and in some cases, buy things no one asked for or really wants. Some local stores will also have Black Friday specials, without the hassle of the big city. And then there is Small Business Saturday.
Small Business Saturday is when you shop at small, locally-owned businesses for things you simply can’t find at the mall, and instead of dealing with crowds and temporary workers who don’t know the store, you can deal with friendly, local people who care about service so you’ll come back time and again throughout the year.
The campaign to “shop small” on the Saturday after Thanksgiving started in 2010 as an effort to give small businesses—many struggling to get out of the red after a long recession—a much needed shot in the arm.
Since then, it has become a powerful movement to give back to the brick-and-mortar businesses that line Main Street and keep our communities vibrant. They are friends and neighbors. They’re among the most generous supporters of local charities, youth sports, schools and virtually every other form of community activity
When you shop local and shop small, you’re supporting your community.
When you shop at a chain store, most of the money goes back to some corporate office somewhere else. When you shop local, most of that money stays here at home.
This year, you can make a difference in your community and probably find some great gift items.
Shop local on Small Business Saturday.
Look for sale papers and ads from local businesses in this weeks Journal that will have some great gift ideas.
Among them, Goodys, ERS Radio Shack, ACE Hardware, CVS and RiteAid. If you are going out of town, check out Hamricks, Grady’s Great Outdoors and Toys R Us.
