The last decade has seen the growth of retail shopping holidays which fall shortly after Thanksgiving. For big box retailers, Black Friday has become a cultural phenomenon, and for online shopping, Cyber Monday has grown exponentially.
The vast majority of American retailing, however, takes place in its hundreds of thousands of smaller retail institutions. With the rise of Small Business Saturday, this important part of our economy gets its due.
Launching locally in New England in 2010, the event received the initial backing of credit card provider American Express and the country’s largest historic preservation organization. Now popular across the country, it has become an increasingly important part of the retailing year for small business – for many, providing their largest day of sales annually.
Recent surveys show that almost 60% of American consumers are aware of Small Business Saturday.
Locally, Richland County will observe the shopping holiday with gusto and, in fact, shoppers will be able to win big while shopping small. Through the leadership of the Richland Area Chamber of Commerce, a “passport” is available to be stamped when shopping at any participating small business (no purchase necessary). Each time the passport is stamped, an entry is made for one of the 75 prizes.
More instructions are available on the passport, a copy of which can be seen here.
This event is being held in conjunction with the Ontario Growth Association, Main Street Books, Shelby Area Business Group, Be Focal Buy Local, Downtown Mansfield, Inc. and The Clear Fork Valley Chamber of Commerce.
Stay tuned over the next few days as 1812Blockhouse promotes this effort by collecting and sharing posts from participating merchants and shoppers. Here’s an initial group; click on any image for the original post:
