Black Friday in all its frenzied shopping glory is consistently the most shopped day of the year. But the next day, Small Business Saturday, is a close second, according to the National Retail Federation.
Last year, 87 million consumers shopped in stores and online on Black Friday. And 33 percent of holiday shoppers said they shopped on Small Business Saturday.
Lindsay Rouse is co-founder of the popular Alamo City Moms Blog, which just published a series of holiday shopping guides focused on San Antonio small businesses. So, what’s the deal with Small Business Saturday?
“Well, Small Business Saturday is designed to support the local businesses. You know you’ve got the big stores like Amazon and Walmart that are going to have the Black Friday sales and Cyber Monday and everything, and small businesses got together and said, ‘Well wait, we need something to help support us and deals and everything,’ Rouse says. “Really, it’s designed to shop local, shop smaller stores, get the money back to the business owners, not necessarily the big box retailers.”
She went on to say there are many stores and online retail outlets in the San Antonio area that were built on great ideas and offer awesome products and services, yet they are often outdone by bigger stores. The Alamo City Moms Blog recently published a series of gift guides to help area shoppers.
“We got together about 32 local businesses that offer different products and services and we broke them down into some different categories. One is for kids, toys are a really big item, obviously during the holiday season.”
She said crafted wood toys are making a come back this year from stacking blocks to intricate pirate ships. Other categories that ACMB featured include clothing for kids, shopping for mom, shopping for the man in your life and also, health and fitness options.
When shopping local some things to keep in mind are quality, uniqueness and whether it’s a product that was hand-made or showcases the culture of your city like a pillow she described that mimics a brightly colored embroidered Mexican dress. In most cases, the gifts that can be found locally are not mass produced plastic toys or cheap. And for a lot of people that can also mean more expensive.
“I think that that’s real common for people, the minute they hear boutique they think, oh, well, that’s really expensive. And that’s not really the case here,” Rouse said. “A lot of these items are very reasonably priced for the great quality that they are so, I really encourage people to get out and shop locally this Saturday.”
You can find the Alamo City Moms Blog picks check here.
For kids - including the wood pirate ship - look here and here.
For moms check here.
For the man in your life, here.
For health and fitness ideas check here.
Something for the hostess, including the Mexican embroidered pillow, check here.