Two days after Thanksgiving, Nancy Martin said she was thankful to the Smyrna communities’ support of locally owned shops — especially since she just opened her store in March.
Gifting Tree and The Secret Garden is a gift store and nursery in Smyrna that opened in the place of a similar store that closed last year after 23 years in business. Martin said starting her business from scratch has been a tough job.
“So Small Business Saturday is a great opportunity for the community to come out and support small businesses,” Martin said. “It’s getting a lot more attention, and it really makes a huge difference to have the community support us.”
Small Business Saturday was created in 2010 by credit card giant American Express and has become a fixture of the holiday shopping weekend.
Almost the opposite of Black Friday — the day people flock to big-box retailers or buy online for advertised deals — Small Business Saturday celebrates local entrepreneurs and small businesses.
Across the state, small business owners offered sales and special events around the day, focused on bringing customers to locally owned establishments.
In Cobb County, Gifting Tree was one of more than a dozen small businesses in Smyrna to take part in Shop Smyrna Saturday. Established by the Smyrna Business Association a few years ago, the group uses the day to urge neighbors to visit the city’s brick-and-mortar shops — whether they’re a mom-and-pop store or a franchise of a larger company.
Beverly Lee, a Smyrna resident, said she makes sure to stop by her favorite local shops every year on Small Business Saturday.
In addition to Giving Tree, Lee said she was planning to stop at small businesses in her hometown of Smyrna, such as the Smyrna Wine Bar, and would head into Atlanta to stop by Bill Hallman Boutique.
“A lot of big (online) retailers are putting our small businesses out of business,” she said. “But I like to shop where I can touch and feel things versus sitting at a computer.”
Tracie Harris, who owns The Book House in Smyrna, said she was seeing a big uptick in customers due to Shop Smyrna Saturday.
“A lot of people are coming out specifically for Small Business Saturday,” she said. “A lot of our loyal customers came out, but I saw some new faces and some faces I hadn’t seen in a while.”
An average of 68 cents of every dollar spent at a small business stays in the local community, according to the 2022 Small Business Economic Impact Study from American Express. In a separate 2022 study of consumer insights, the American Express found that 72% of consumers said Small Business Saturday encourages them to shop locally year round.
Americans spent nearly $18 billion on Small Business Saturday last year, according to American Express.
A YouGov survey conducted by consumer financial services company Bankrate found that 61% of shoppers would participate in Small Business Saturday while only 56% said they would take advantage of Black Friday deals.
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