It’s a big holiday weekend coming up for retailers — and Saturday is an especially important day for independent small business owners like Beth Ivanic of Meadville.
The extended Thanksgiving holiday weekend marks Black Friday, the traditional start of retail holiday shopping season, and Small Business Saturday.
This Saturday is the 15th annual nationwide Small Business Saturday — a day encouraging people to shop at local, small businesses on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
Like many independent retailers, Ivanic, owner of Hello Sunshine, a children’s clothing, toys and gifts store, counts on the holiday season to account for a third or more of her yearly sales.
“I’ve bulked up inventory for this,” Ivanic said. “Business has been going well.”
The store, which opened in March 2023, relocated this month from Market Street to new, larger quarters at 255 Chestnut St.
“We’ve got two to three times the space — plus more storage space and an office now,” she said.
There are more than 34 million small independent businesses in the nation, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration.
In 2023, the reported projected spending in the U.S. from those who shopped at small businesses on Small Business Saturday was around $17 billion, according to the SBA.
Since 2010, the total reported U.S. spending at small businesses during the annual Small Business Saturday is an estimated $201 billion, according to the SBA.
In 2010, American Express, the credit card services company, started Small Business Saturday as a way for independent retailers to counter large retail chains and online retailers. The SBA has been an official cosponsor of the event since 2011.
As an independent retailer, Ivanic said she tries to personalize purchases for customers — asking for feedback from customers on what’s valuable to them and what they need or would like to see.
“I’m trying to complement other purchases they made at bigger chain stores,” she said. “Small Business Saturday helps put the spotlight on small business.”
Cody Beachy, owner of Route 322 Closeouts, between Meadville and Cochranton, agrees. He and his wife, Lalona, own and operate the store which sells closeout merchandise from major retail chains.
“The end of October you start to feel the buzz that’s building for Thanksgiving weekend,” he said. “Kids are off school, families are looking to do something together and go shopping.”
“We’re a family run business,” Beachy said. “We see people supporting us locally and we try to support local as well. We wouldn’t have a store without local customers.”
John O’Grady, owner of Al’s Melons and Greenhouse at Conneaut Lake, said it’s important that the public supports small businesses year-round as local businesses are intertwined with their communities.
“We look for and get support all year,” O’Grady said. “Small business is important to small communities. We’re supporting each other.”
A nationwide impact study found 68 cents of every dollar spent at a U.S. small business stays within the local community.
The study also found every dollar spent at small businesses creates an additional 48 cents in local business activity as a result of employees and local businesses purchasing local goods and services.
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