Shop Small Saturday This Week

Jefferson County small businesses will celebrate Shop Small Saturday this week. This is a part of a National program to put small business on the forefront, following the big box boom of Black Friday. This year marks the fourth birthday of Small Business Saturday, which was born in 2010 from an effort by American Express to help small businesses bring customers into their stores. From a movement to promote mom and pop’s, Shop Small Saturday was officially recognized by the United States Senate in 2011. In a survey of retailers in 2012, it was estimated that Americans spent $5.5 million dollars shopping small. Last year, more than 1,400 neighborhoods joined the ban wagon to keep those small, personal shops economically healthy.

While the numbers of small businesses seriously outnumber those that employ more than 500 ( in a 27.9 million to 18, 5000 split) according to the most recent US Census, small businesses are equally susceptible to failure as their larger competitors. In fact, according to the Small Business Office of Advocacy, 50% will fail within five years and only 1/3 will last a decade.

In addition to the push to remember the small business owners with the Shop Small movement, the Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce has begun a Shop Local campaign to keep tax dollars at home and support the local business owners. The Spend $20 locally on the 20th of Each Month push has been joined by some local small business owners creating their own marketing programs to reach local consumers, such as Tax Free Tuesday.

Shop Small Saturday will be on November 29, 2014. Locals and Visitors are encouraged to give their small businesses the nod, as they begin Holiday Shopping and in their daily consumer activities.