Hot deals for Small Business Saturday

Before heading out to shop this holiday season, local merchants want you to consider more than just the items on your wish list when it comes down to where you decide to buy.

Sean Snaith, director of the Institute for Economic Competitiveness at the University of Central Florida, said the trend to spend during the holiday season has shifted greatly to big-box retailers and online websites and away from smaller, locally owned businesses because of the economy.

“Big-boxes are popping up everywhere for a reason,” he said. “And it’s not because people don’t shop there.”

If you register your American Express card online, and spend more than $25 at a small business on Small Business Saturday, you can qualify for an automatic $25 credit. For more information on Small Business Saturday on Saturday, Nov. 26, visit www.smallbusinesssaturday.com. For a list of participating local businesses, visit www.winterpark.org/content/small-business-saturday.

But Erika Spence, with the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce and Park Avenue Area Association, said it’s important for people to support their local businesses to maintain the quality and charm that the Winter Park community has cultivated.

“The holidays are always about giving back to people who give to us, and this is a really great way to support the local businesses that support our community,” Spence said.

To encourage people to do so, the PAAA has partnered with American Express in their initiative for a day dedicated to shopping at small businesses called Small Business Saturday on Nov. 26, which is sandwiched between Black Friday on Nov. 25 and Cyber Monday on Nov. 28.

“The holiday season has become so crowded with Black Friday deals and large retailers really claiming the day for theirs,” Spence said. “It’s important on this day to remember our small businesses.”

Spence said she’s signed up 30 local businesses to formally participate so far with, she anticipates, 50 involved by Small Business Saturday.

Though the overall tally result of this newly deemed day — held for the first time last year — may not be nearly as substantial as those of its counterparts, Snaith said the day may help people give a second thought as to where they shop.

“It can help get more people to think about other opportunities to patronize local businesses as opposed to having their spending leave the area,” he said.

Local landscape

As opposed to big-box retailers, a greater percentage of money spent at small businesses is reinvested back into the local economy, Snaith said, which betters the local economic situation as a whole.

“The more money that is kept in the area, the better the local economy will be,” he said.

Yet, he said, because of pressures of the economy the past few years, consumers have been driven away from these pop and mom stores, in favor of the convenience and affordability of many big-box retailers.

America’s Research Group founder and retail expert Brit Beemer said that in a survey he conducted last year only 37 percent of people said they would definitely shop at an independent retailer that holiday season. He said this compares drastically to when he would conduct such surveys 25 years ago, when nearly 80 percent said they would.

“Generally I would say the independent dealer has struggled more so than the major chains,” Beemer said. “… That doesn’t mean they’re beat, it just means that there’s more of a challenge facing them.”

In order to stand out, Snaith said, small businesses need to find their market niche and offer what big retailers can’t, whether that is through unique products or personal customer service relationships.

Earth Inspired Living

300 N. Park Ave., Winter Park

407-644-2344

www.earthinspiredliving.com

Wearable Art

332 N. Park Ave., Winter Park

407-599-2255

www.wearableart-sl.com

The Doggie Door

329 N. Park Ave., Winter Park

407-644-2969

www.thedoggiedoor.com

“The ones who have lived through this are probably in a better position than they were before the whole recession started,” Snaith said. “It’s the Darwinian dimension of the recession: only the fittest survive.”

Small businesses sound off

Spence said that Linda Semmler, owner of Earth Inspired Living on Park Avenue, was one of the driving forces behind getting the Park Avenue Area Association involved with Small Business Saturday.

After hearing of the event too late to fully participate last year, Semmler made a commitment to herself that she would get both her store and others on the Avenue involved this year.

“Unless there’s a concerted effort out there of people calling attention to them, local businesses often can be forgotten,” Semmler said. “This year we decided to get in front of the movement and tell our customers and neighbors.”

On her shop’s door there is a sticker labeling her as a participant in Small Business Saturday, as well as a QR code passersby can scan with their cell phones to learn more about the day and how they can get involved.

“Local businesses have to sustain themselves, and they can’t survive without the community’s support,” she said. Larry Nicastro, a co-owner of Wearable Art and Markdown Mary’s on Park Avenue, said he’s looking forward to participating in Small Business Saturday, hoping it will draw out more shoppers to the Avenue.

“I hope it works,” he said. “The retail industry needs any help it can to keep going …. It’s been a long two years.”

Brian Wettstein, co-owner of the Doggie Door, said he is hopeful for this holiday shopping season and Small Business Saturday, anticipating a 10 percent increase in business this season from last year.

He said Park Avenue, with a plethora of independently run businesses, is the perfect place for a movement like this to take off. With a big advertising push from American Express, he hopes many local businesses will benefit from the Small Business Saturday buzz.

“We can not afford to do that kind of marketing on our own,” he said. “There’s no price tag on that for us; it’s priceless. We’re so thrilled to be a part of it.”