Small Business Saturday started as a campaign launched by American Express in 2010 designed to help small businesses gain exposure and to inspire holiday shoppers to do business within their own communities. In 2011 when Washington State mayors, governors, senators and President Obama shared their support for Small Business Saturday – the first Saturday after Thanksgiving – it became official. The 2020 holiday shopping season, which started with Black Friday and Shop Small Saturday, will look quite different than any other. In this year of the Covid19 pandemic with all the health and economic mayhem reeling in its wakes, it is even more important to make shopping small THE big deal this holiday season. Here are a few reasons why and some tips for making this a fun and memorable shop-small season.  

Strong Backbone

Small businesses are often referred to as the backbone of the communities where their shingles hang. In July of this year a Forbes piece reported that 73,000 American businesses had closed already due to the pandemic. An early fall report indicated that more than sixty percent of the businesses that have closed due to the pandemic will not reopen. Feeling the heavy weight of these numbers, the strength of the community backbone is at serious risk – this happening in under a year. Making holiday shopping with small business the big deal this holiday season could go a long way to injecting new life into local communities hit hard by the implications of the virus.

Working Community

Shopping small in local communities helps to keep people in those communities and others working. Jobs are secured or created in a ripple effect. Shop owners hire workers and order products (made by others) which then must be moved from manufacturing (more jobs) to the seller.

Service-based businesses, including Chemistry PR and Multimedia, also benefit from your decision to shop small. When businesses and nonprofit organizations, and others trust us to provide media, video and event expertise, we too hire additional professionals, update equipment we need to do the job well, and support the community our offices are located in. Yes, even the local public relations agency benefits from shop-small-minded consumers and the ripple effect is just as significant for us as it is for retailers and other small businesses.  

Tangible Support

When consumers shop with local small businesses it sends a clear message that they stand firmly in support of the businesses and the communities. For every gift purchased from a local small business three people benefit. The gift recipient, the small business owner and the community. We all win when we make shopping small the big deal during this holiday shopping season.

During this crazy unprecedented 2020 holiday season it is more important than ever to support local small retailers, restaurant owners, public relations agencies, and other small businesses. Small business owners, like myself, are depending on holiday dollars and beyond to continue keeping our communities strong, inspired and working toward a positive prosperous future.

Make this Shop Small season the best!

Here are some simple ways you can make this year’s holiday shopping season fun, safe and memorable.

• Choose your shopping destinations and call ahead, if possible, to learn shopping hours and any special processes the business might be engaging. Schedule your trip during less busy times if you can. Low sales times are when business owners especially love the traffic.
• Follow DCD guidelines and keep your distance. Take care to maintain the average 6ft physical distance from others. Don’t let this distance be a reason to be unkind. Remember, stress levels can be high during the holidays. These guidelines can add to the stress.
• Avoid touching and handling items you don’t intend to purchase. This is as much for your own safety as it is for the safety and peace of mind of others.
• Sport your best holiday face-mask. Since you must wear a mask make it fun. Decorate your own or purchase a holiday embellished mask from a local crafter or retailer.
• Buy gifts that will bring others back to these businesses. Gift cards are still all the rage. Pick up several from retailers and restaurants. These create income for the businesses and ensure that they will enjoy more business as recipients redeem them and become repeat visitors.
• Be kind. It is the season to be jolly! Put on your best behavior, exercise your best manners, and give grace where you can. It has been a stressful year for everyone. Your kind words and extra measure of patience with someone may be the very thing that makes their holiday brighter….or yours.
• Shop Small all month. Supporting local small businesses can go beyond one day. Make the entire holiday shopping season all about keeping small business alive and healthy in your community.

Chris Kuban started Chemistry PR and Multimedia with a vision to effectively formulate corporate and non-profit brands across the country. In doing so, he has become an expert in Media Relations, Event Management, Social Media implementation and video production.  He engages, coordinates and oversees a diverse team of local and national suppliers, vendors, employees and consultants, allowing him to successfully coordinate over 120 national events focusing on overall logistics, media relations and his clients’ expected ROI. Follow him on Twitter or connect with him on LinkedIn.