“Small businesses are the backbone of the local community,” said Eliot Walters, Amish Merchant owner.
It's Small Business Saturday and local residents are coming out to support their neighbors this holiday season. Local residents not only came out to not only get ready for the holiday but to also support the backbone of the community, which is small businesses.
“Definitely important to come out and support our local shops,” said Emily Blackmore, a Small Business Saturday shopper. “They are relying on us to come out and help us out and keep them in business.”
Small Business Saturday was started by American Express in an effort to raise awareness on what locally owned businesses can mean to the community.
“It reiterates the importance of the small businesses in the local community - what we bring back to and what we keep in the community,” said Walters.
Whether you decide to buy furniture or even food at a local shop as opposed to going to a retail store, area businesses say it truly benefits the neighborhoods in which you live in.
“Every single dollar that we bring into the store right here is, for the most part, kept in the local community outside of paying our vendors and things like that,” he said.
This Small Business Saturday Shirley's Gourmet Popcorn Company is not only putting their money back into the community but also putting smiles on faces. Every customer who brought in a receipt from a small business received a free small bag of popcorn with any purchase. The regional manager says it’s important to shop small because of the impact the businesses have in the community.
“Your small businesses are really your foundation of your community and that’s what’s here,” said Becky Jordan, Shirley’s Gourmet Popcorn Company regional manager. “We have a lot of big stores but it’s small businesses- that’s where it all got started.”
