Business & Tech

Shopping Small Business Gets its Own Day

A movement to shop local for the holidays becomes Small Business Saturday.

A new day has been added to the holiday calendar.

A year ago, as the U. S. economy was beginning its upturn, small businesses were looking for a way to attract customers, and according to American Express, 93 percent of consumers like to support local businesses. Thus was born Small Business Saturday.

“Small businesses are really the lifeblood of the economy,” said Mary Ann Fitzmaurice Reilly, senior VP, customer marketing for American Express.

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Black Friday, the holiday shopping kickoff was first. Then the Monday following Thanksgiving became Cyber Monday. Now Small Business Saturday encourages  shoppers to hit the sidewalks and support locally owned stores the Saturday after Black Friday. Last year was the first. This year it’s Nov. 26 and many Fenton and High Ridge small businesses are hoping for the surge of sales typically seen at mall and large retail areas like Gravois Bluffs. This year, local shoppers will find discounts on clothes, computers, gifts, fitness equipment and more (more details below).

Fitzmaurice Reilly said last year was about creating awareness of the day. This year shops are being encouraged to use Facebook and other social networking tools to promote their business. American Express’s Small Business Saturday Facebook page encourages consumers to shop small, and provides tools for businesses to make their own Facebook page, if they don’t already have one.

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“What we were able to do on the consumer side last year, and continue to do this year, is to tap into the traffic, the viral nature of the Facebooks of the world,” Fitzmaurice Reilly said. According to a survey conducted by American Express, 89 million people said they plan to shop small on Small Business Saturday.

Christine Manes ia one of the proprietors of in Fenton. She is hoping there are enough local shoppers who are interested in the all-natural goods that she specializes in. For Small Business Saturday the store will feature 25 percent off most of the merchandise in the store, excluding the artwork done by local artists.

Manes prides herself on being a local small business that can provide the kind of personal service that customers don't always get fromn the large retailers. She also supports local merchants and farmers to be able to provide an abundance of locally farm-grown goods. Another small business she supports is an operation called Two Men and A Garden, two Fenton neighbors who provide homemade salsa and pickles through the Green House Market.

Manes says some of her most popular items are the all-natural body care products she carries. which often are included in customized gift baskets that also include such all-natural goods as candles, coffees, homemade chocolates, or any item a customer would like to include.

Michele Van Tuyl is one of the owners of UniQue Ideas 'N More, 2075B Bentley Plaza, Fenton, a gift store that specializes in custom apparel and personalized products. Van Tuyl is already in holiday mode and, even though she didn't know a lot about Small Business Saturday, she said customized service and customer appreciation is far more evident at a small business than from the major retailers.

UniQue Ideas already has a head start on the holiday shopping deals by offering free ornaments and free tote bags with qualifying purchases throughout the holiday shopping season. The store also features free gift wrapping for items sold in the store.

Both Van Tuyl and co-owner Gina Burlison are Fenton moms, so they spend much of their time at events that are also being attended by their customers so they know their customer base well.

Since Small Business Saturday is a new concent and only in its second year, to get things going, American Express is giving the first 10,000 small businesses to make their own Facebook page through the Small Business Saturday Facebook page, $100 in Facebook advertising.

For businesses already on Facebook, there’s a program created with the help of Google called My Business Story, which helps a business tell its story on Facebook with a YouTube video.

Patti Guttmann, with the St. Louis office of the U.S. Small Business Administration said the S.B.A. sponsors an entire week, nationally, that promotes small businesses. In St. Louis, the week, Small Business Week of Eastern Missouri, is in May.

Guttmann said of the second annual Small Business Saturday, “hopefully millions of people will be shopping at small businesses on that Saturday. To help them grow is a fantastic thing."


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