Small Business Saturday
Discover unique and personalized products, support passionate entrepreneurs, and contribute to the local economy by shopping at independently-owned stores.
Mobilize local communities and conscious consumers to drive foot traffic and sales to independent retailers on the busiest shopping weekend after Thanksgiving.
- Spotlight local hero stories: feature 3-5 independent business owners and their unique products
- Shop local, support local: infographics showing how dollars spent at small businesses recirculate in communities
- Gift guide curated from indie retailers: position unique, personalized finds as alternatives to mass-market chains
- Behind-the-scenes content: show the passion and craftsmanship of small business owners vs. corporate retail
The 1960s saw the rise of the American shopping mall, and the decades since have seen large chain retailers further cementing their position in terms of taking over the retail sphere and displacing smaller, family-run businesses.
This model has spread further throughout the world, and chain retailers have been usurping small businesses’ market share worldwide in the last few decades. That being said, the difference is most stark in countries like the US, where small businesses have often been obliterated within a year or two of some large chain retailer coming to town and opening up shop – in India and much of Southeast Asia, shopping malls coexist with small shops largely because they serve different markets – as has been noted in the past, the corner shop is not going anywhere anytime soon in India because customers can purchase items on credit, and that’s just something that you’ll never be able to do in a Walmart or BigBazaar.
In the United States, the context is different, though. Different economic realities combined with different cultural ideas about how small businesses operate has ultimately been more harmful to those businesses in developed countries than in developing economies. And with all of the odds stacked against them, small businesses in the US need a day in their honor.
Small Business Saturday is a relatively recent phenomenon – the first one was in Roslindale Village, Massachusetts in 2010 as a counterpart to Black Friday (which features big-box retailers, and its anti-consumerist counterpart, Buy Nothing Day targets big business).
Small Business Saturday was originally sponsored by American Express and the non-profit National Trust for Historic Preservation. From the very start, the day has been promoted through advertising on both social media and more traditional means such as television and radio advertisement. Since 2013, Small Business Saturday has also existed in the UK following the success of its American counterpart.