Make Your Holiday Dollars Count

During this time of year you hear lots of cutesy terms that encourage consumer spending such as Cyber Monday and Small Business Saturday. These were developed to help spur holiday spending to boost retail sales at the end of the year. But, they aren’t necessarily a corporate greedy tactic.

History of Small Business Saturday

Known as the Saturday after Thanksgiving, the first ever Small Business Saturday took place on November 27, 2010. It was launched by American Express in efforts to encourage people to support local, small businesses rather than shopping the big, corporate stores. The movement was so successful that in 2011, the United States Senate passed a resolution for it to be an officially recognized day. In 2012, all 50 states were in unanimous support of the day and its purpose. By 2015, Small Business Saturday was seeing 95 million people in local stores across the country.

Why Is #Shoplocal Important?

In a world where convenience wins, small businesses must fight hard each day to keep their doors open and employees paid. Large, corporate retailers have the advantage of one-stop shopping where you can get anything you could want within minutes. When you spend your shopping dollars at places like this you are likely only boosting the CEO’s salary; the cashier checking you out doesn’t see a dime increase in their own wages in most cases.

Shopping at a small, local business shows you exactly where your dollar goes. It goes to feed the family of the owner and employees. Any big boost in business just helps that small company get a little further ahead in their finances and even allow to repay some debts incurred opening the business. While we all love, and need to, shop at bigger stores don’t forget the mom and pop shop around the corner this holiday season, they would love to have you.