Pike County gears up for Small Business Saturday

Small Business Saturday, Nov. 30, is a day dedicated to supporting small businesses across the country.

In 2010, American Express created Small Business Saturday, a new shopping day right after Black Friday, to help small businesses get what they needed most — more customers.

Small Business Day is celebrated every year on the Saturday after Thanksgiving and is designed to encourage shoppers to basically shop at home.

Kathy Sauer, Pike County Chamber of Commerce president, said that the Chamber always encourages people to shop at home and supports the concept of Small Business Saturday.

“When American Express launched Small Business Saturday a few years ago, the idea was to encourage holiday shoppers to support small, locally-owned merchants in their own community by having a special shopping day after Black Friday,” Sauer said.

“The day is a great time to purchase unique products and experience individual customer service that our small stores offer. Not only do customers and local merchants benefit, but everyone in the area benefits as a good percentage of the amount spent goes back to keeping our community thriving.”

Sauer said that, although Alabama has not yet take a firm grip on the concept, many states have.

“Small Business Saturday is something that we are seriously looking at because it would be beneficial to our local businesses in that it would bring attention to them at the time when shopping is at its peak,” she said.

“The Pike County Chamber is always looking for ways to encourage people to shop at home. What is spent locally return locally.”

The challenge of Small Business Saturday is to cement its place as an official shopping day in the United States and drive solid business outcomes to America’s independent, brick-and-mortar retailers.