- March 29, 2024
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Local merchants are hoping that something small can make a big difference this holiday season. They’re promoting Black Friday’s lesser-known neighbor, Small Business Saturday.
After the turkey’s been tasted, and big box stores’ winding lines waited in, the holiday shopping season will be in local small business owners’ hands for Small Business Saturday, Nov. 24, says Winter Park Chamber of Commerce Senior Marketing Director Erika Spence.
“Our whole idea is ‘local sharing local’… it’s all about the local community coming together and shopping at local stores,” Spence said.
In its third year of existence, being crafted by American Express, local merchant groups including the Winter Park Chamber, Park Avenue Merchants Association and the College Park Partnership are getting on board again, hoping to make this year’s Small Business Saturday the most successful so far.
Businesses up and down Park Avenue have already posted notice of their participation in the event in their windows, hoping word will get out and draw a crowd to kick-off holiday shopping on the Avenue after Thanksgiving.
“Park Avenue is kind of the perfect spot when you think of small entrepreneurs… so if the whole Avenue comes together, it can make the event even stronger,” said Linda Semmler, owner of Earth Inspired Living.
Semmler started the Small Business Saturday push on the Avenue before the Chamber jumped on board as a sponsor because she said she wanted to help small business owners like herself succeed and prosper during the holiday shopping season, and beyond.
“I think everyone is going to feel really good about it, to be supporting the local businesses and knowing the money they’re spending is staying with their neighbors. … It’s all just a celebration of sorts of all things local,” Semmler said.
Britt Beemer, founder and CEO of America’s Research Group, a consumer behavior research and strategic consulting firm based out of Orlando, says supporting small businesses is an important message, but one not always followed through from consumers.
Small Business Saturday is Saturday, Nov. 24. For more information on the day, sponsored by American Express, and resources available to get businesses involved, visit ShopSmall.com. For a list of participants registered with the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce to participate, visit ExperienceParkAvenue.com. And to learn more about local businesses in College Park, visit CollegeParkPartnership.com
For the 2012 holiday shopping season, he says 26 percent of shoppers say they will try to shop local this year, which is relatively unchanged from last year. In the same study, however, 80 percent of customers said they don’t like shopping at malls, preferring outdoor, downtown areas. To capitalize on this, he says, small businesses, which are more often found in these outdoor shopping districts, such as Park Avenue, need to pull out all the stops to pull potential mall-loathing customers in.
“Anything that gets people excited about going somewhere is a good thing,” Beemer said. Whether that’s playing up the charm of an area offering a pancake breakfast to kick off morning shopping, or just advertising deals that are great enough to get people to show up, he says, consumers are bargain driven, and could possibly be swayed to stay small if provided an incentive.
To do that, Spence says the Chamber is asking participating local businesses to offer incentives with purchases made on Small Business Saturday, much like the annual Red Bag Days on Park Avenue, which will run this Thursday, Nov. 15, through Sunday, Nov. 18.
Earth Inspired Living is offering a $10 gift card with every $50 purchase on Small Business Saturday, and eclectic accessories store Rosey Wray’s Roost is offering 10 percent off an item to customers who sign up for their mailing list, as well as free hot apple cider and refreshments for shoppers. These offers are in addition to American Express’ offer to provide a $25 credit to those who shop small on Nov. 24 with their American Express card.
“We’re doing what we can to get the word out. … This year I’m hoping between our signs, emails and (American Express) ads on TV that we’ll get a better response, and get some people out of the big stores and staying local,” Rosey Wray owner Linda Spinelli said.
In College Park, Andrea Kudlacz, director of the College Park Partnership, says the organization is working with business owners to promote Small Business Saturday and make it even more successful than previous years. So far, she says, 30 to 40 College Park businesses have signed up to participate and are prepared to put signs in windows and yard signs in lawns to lure shoppers to their primarily small-business-filled shopping district on Edgewater Drive.
“We’re getting retailers to do whatever we can to generate interest,” Kudlacz said.
Spence said the whole event comes down to consumers coming together to spend and support local businesses and the community as a whole. To bring it full circle, Spence says the Chamber is sponsoring a food drive to be held simultaneously with Small Business Saturday to play on the holiday spirit and give back to those in need through the Community Food and Outreach Center. Donations can be made Nov. 24 at participating merchants’ stores.
“You can feel good that you made a difference, and you supported a local business. … It’s about all about making a whole circle of sharing locally,” Spence said.