NC small business owners grateful for support of shoppers on Small Business Saturday

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — When you support small businesses this holiday season, you’re supporting entrepreneurs like Michael Bell.

“We’re really trying,” Bell told ABC11. “I have three kids and, you know, a mortgage and whenever people shop here.. you’re supporting the little guy.”

His record shop, Hunky Dory, officially opened in Raleigh Iron Works just last week.

“There’s a lot of work that, you know, I did to get into this spot,” he said. “99% of the things that you see in here were hung by me, built by me, moved by me.”

Seeing shopping come out for Small Business Saturday means the world to shop owners like him, especially as shoppers braved the cold.

Across the street, The Flourish Market is celebrating just a few weeks in their new location – opening their doors in time for the holiday season.

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This day holds extra meaning for their owner, Emily Grey.

“While people consider small business Saturday a celebration of small business owners, we really see it always as a celebration of our amazing community of customers who are truly the lifeblood of our business,” she said.

Raleigh Iron Works is filled with a growing number of local businesses and constantly hosts markets to support small shops and local food trucks.

Whether you made it out to support a small business on Saturday, or you plan to move forward as you find gifts for everyone on your lists – it means everything to small business owners in our community.

“I feel very sentimental because, without our community of customers, we wouldn’t be here–our community has seen us through some very, very tough years, and it is only because of them that we are still standing,” Grey said.

To learn more about Small Business Saturday in Raleigh, click here.

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