From staff reports
TRUSSVILLE — While big-box retailers usually get most shoppers on Black Friday, local retailers want shoppers to remember that small, local businesses are also in town to assist you in your holiday needs.
“Small Business Saturday” is a day to shop local stores and find those unique items you may not see in larger retail stores. By shopping local, buyers are not only putting money back into the community economy, but helping each business owner strive to do more as well.
Buying in large retailers or big-box stores is also more crowded, while local stores are more personal.
“You build a friendship, you build a relationship and you build trust,” Mary Robinson, owner of Nona Ruth’s said.
Additionally, if locals are not shopping at these small stores, they aren’t likely to be there when those certain unique items are needed.
“It’s one thing to say, ‘I love you store, I want you to be here,’ but if you don’t support them and give them your business, then they won’t last,” Susan White of Whoopsie Daisy Clothing said.
Credit card company American Express takes credit for the beginning of “Small Business Saturday”. The company claims the event began in 2010 to encourage people across the country to support local retailers.
According to the Small Business Saturday Consumer Insights Survey conducted in 2012, 73.9 million shoppers bought locally on the scheduled date, and the same study completed in 2014 said more than $14.3 billion was spent throughout the nation.