You’re Invited To Shop ‘Small Business Saturday’
By: Hope Wilkos, Writer
The Christmas Holiday is almost here. After enjoying the Thanksgiving turkey and taking in an evening of football, predictions are calling for a very successful season of holiday shopping in 2016. Lines already began to form on Monday of Thanksgiving week with determined shoppers setting up tents and chairs outside stores, ready to claim that once in a lifetime bargain of the century on Black Friday, the minute the clock turns midnight.
One of the busiest shopping days of the year takes place every year on Black Friday. We fight for that one remaining parking spot, stand in line to purchase merchandise for what seems like hours as we go through our Facebook page again and again and spend all day shopping for our loved ones so we can relieve the heavy burden put on our wallets.
However, some of the smaller businesses in the community have pretty big competition from profitable retailers who can afford to run strategic marketing campaigns to sell their merchandise right off the shelves at record pace. Without the same type of funding, it can be pretty difficult to compete on their level for the same number of customers. That is why American Express created ‘Small Business Saturday’ on November 27, 2010 as an annual shopping event to increase traffic for the small community businesses. As a bonus incentive, if you happen to have an American Express credit card, you can double your rewards by shopping your known small businesses on this recognized day.
Much like a national holiday, ‘Small Business Saturday’ was promoted using catchy slogans and the backing of corporate giant, American Express, who decided to help promote these businesses with free personalized ads which appear millions of times on the worldwide web. As the concept continues to flourish, small businesses have really profited. Customers have spent billions since its 2010 inception and 95 million people have contributed to the success. It became an official shopping day when the United States Senate unanimously passed a resolution supporting ‘Small Business Saturday.’ Communities have banded together to champion the day in whatever way possible and to encourage small businesses to sign up and experience the joy and achievement of this day annually.
The supporters for ‘Small Business Saturday’ have increased over the years and include local Chamber of Commerces across the nation, American Business Women’s Association, Council of Better Business Bureau, Universities, libraries and many other highly respected organizations.
By shopping ‘Small Business Saturday’ on November 26, 2016, not only will you as the customer reap the rewards, but, local small merchants benefit as well. It is an economic win, win situation for both the business and the community as a whole.
Saturday, November 26, 2016, support small businesses in a very big way. Shop Small for that extra feeling of personal attention. It isn’t just retail shops and boutiques, but, restaurants and movie theaters participate as well. To find all the local businesses in your area that are participating this year, go to www.shopsmall.com. You are bound to find all the items that you need on your Christmas list with a few weeks to spare.
