ROCKFORD, Mich
After the Thanksgiving turkey is served and the Black Friday big box ambush is over, shoppers are encouraged to mosey from storefront to storefront in their community streets and shop local.
It’s known as Small Business Saturday. A promotion to drive consumers to the brick-and-mortar stores between Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Dubbed by American Express in 2010, the 2012 season is expected to be bigger.
Along the decorated streets of downtown Rockford, a steady crowd of shoppers seemed to make their way to the small retailers along North Main Street on Saturday afternoon.
Small business owners hope they have enough energy leftover to shop and spend.
“Yes, it’s a great day for us. We have a lot of local customers that come and support us and we have customers call and ask us if we do Small Business Saturday,” said Katie Unsworth, who runs Right at Home with her parents.
The store sells everything from home decor to gifts and is all decked out for Christmas.
For Small Business Saturday, they’re offering 20% off scarves, totes, and Christmas items. An incentive to get shoppers spending.
“It is tough to compete against the big box stores, so we appreciate any promotion we can get,” said Unsworth.
Small businesses are not only offering deals as part of the national shopping event, but reminding customers the small retailer can offer that unique gift that may be hard to find anywhere else.
