Small businesses, often overshadowed by high-traffic malls and big-box retailers during the Christmas shopping season, are hoping for a buying blitz today.
For weeks, a national campaign, sponsored by American Express and labeled Small Business Saturday, has been urging consumers through social media to keep their holiday spending local, at least for one day. And many local stores on the region’s retail main streets are participating.
FedEx, Google and Facebook are supporting the event, which is in its second year. Small businesses that participate get free marketing materials and some receive free Facebook advertisements. People who commit to spending their money in local shops and use an American Express card can get $25.
“Any time you can help a small business it helps the whole community,” said Josh Chapman, who owns Chapman Jewelry and Repair in LaFayette, Ga. “When you shop local they say a dollar turns seven times in a town. Instead of sending it out of town it makes a big difference.”
Consumer awareness about Small Business Saturday has swelled in the last year. In 2010, 1.5 million Facebook users committed to buying local the Saturday after Thanksgiving. This year, more 2.6 million committed.