Georgia shoppers flock to local shops for Small Business Saturday
Takasha Lewis was in town Saturday, visiting from California, when she went in search of a hoodie.
She stumbled upon the pop-up booth for Elite Textile Enterprises that was set up as part of the Atlanta Beltline Marketplace.
Lewis said she was hoping to find the hoodie at a small business.
“We went up to the Ponce (City) Market, but didn’t see anything,” she said. “And then we saw the lady, the vendor over there, that had exactly what we wanted, which was really cool.”
It was the perfect way for Lewis to participate in Small Business Saturday, an annual event created in 2010 by credit card giant American Express that 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.
Amichi Bertrand, president of Atlanta Indie Market Experience, said his organization has partnered with the Beltline for about three years to highlight small businesses year-round.
Small businesses are invited monthly to show their products or services at tents across four different Beltline locations.
Bertrand said he’s thankful the Beltline has created space to highlight small businesses that might not yet have the means to establish a brick-and-mortar storefront.
“We need more policy that supports small business,” Bertrand said. “Atlanta went through a thing back in ’96 where they pretty much banned any vending on any streets, which was great to kind of get that under control. But now, 30 years later, what opportunities are you actually creating for small business? … So the Beltline is definitely taking that first step, and hopefully the city of Atlanta will follow suit.”
Hanna Hammad, who launched Elite Textiles nearly a year ago, said it was the first time her business participated in the Beltline marketplace.
“I’ve noticed that people like to go to the well known brands like Abercrombie or Hollister,” she said. “But setting up at exhibits like these or outside of gyms will help our brand become more known.”
Activist LaTosha Brown said she hopes that shopping at local small businesses lasts past Small Business Saturday. She is the lead organizer of “We Ain’t Buying It,” a grassroots effort to redirect money from large corporations that are supportive of the policies of the Trump administration.
Some large businesses have embraced policies such as rolling back initiatives meant to increase diversity, equity and inclusion and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s mass deportation efforts.
Lewis said those federal policies played a part in her plans to shop at small businesses.
“I canceled my Spotify membership because they’re supporting ICE (advertisements),” she said. “And I just feel like a lot of the larger businesses, they have their fingers on the pulse of money, as opposed to the pulse of the community. And when we support each other, the money goes back into the community.”
Community-building is at the center of Brown’s “We Ain’t Buying It” campaign.
“This is how community should work,” she said. “What Trump is doing is destroying the nation; what we are doing is building a nation. We are a true reflection of what America looks like.”
About the Author
Maya T. Prabhu covers the Georgia Senate and statewide issues as a government reporter for The AJC. Born in Queens, New York, and raised in northern Virginia, Maya attended Spelman College and then the University of Maryland for a master's degree. She writes about social issues, the criminal justice system and legislative politics.
