State Street in Newtown Borough
Credit: Tom Sofield/NewtownPANow.com
For many Bucks Countians, the start of the holiday shopping season is Black Friday and Cyber Monday. However, Small Business Saturday takes place this weekend and is just as important.
Small businesses from Mill Street in Bristol to State Street in Newtown will be opening their doors to welcome holiday shoppers. Many stores are offering deals and other incentives to draw in customers on Small Business Saturday and throughout the season.
Nameless Prints is a print shop based in Bristol Borough. This week is the business’s three year anniversary. According to owner Joe Stanley, Nameless Prints will be participating in Small Business Saturday by way of the Bristol Borough Business Association’s Holiday Passport program.
“If your neighbor’s business is doing well, chances are that yours will do better as a result,” Stanley said.
According to Shea Cialella, the administrative director of the BBBA, the program has spurred interaction among businesses on Mill Street.
In Newtown, the locally-owned businesses and the Newtown Mercantile Group have been hard at work promoting Small Business Saturday.
“I think it is really important that they keep supporting businesses in Newtown,” said Bobbie Lewis, the owner of the Newtown Book and Record Exchange.
Lewis said the shop has been a strong supporter of Small Business Saturday since its inception in 2010.
“It’s important because you get away from big box corporations and into the fabric of America,” said Andy Waskie, one of the owners of Alternate Dimension Toys in Newtown. Small Business Saturday is always a big day for the toy shop, Waskie said.
The Fairless Hills Garden Center in Falls Township is another local business that expects to see a busy Saturday.
“It’s another busy Saturday this time,” George Schick, the manager of the store said.
“I feel like shopping local plays a huge part in developing the local community,” he explained.
With the economy growing, consumers are expected to spend more than $1 trillion during the 2017 holiday season, according to a forecast from Deloitte, which serves business customers around the globe. The sale projection marks an increase from the 658 billion the National Retail Federation said was spend in the 2016 holiday season.
Federal data shows that small businesses are the backbone of the modern economy and the help foster a unique marketplace. They also are credited with creating two out of every three net new jobs in the private sector.
In most cases, small businesses are spending their money in the communities where they are based. That money is cycled to other small businesses and helps keep towns strong.
Small Business Saturday has grown since it first started in 2010. The holiday sales event receives support from American Express and business groups across the country.
Consumer awareness for Small Business Saturday is at 61 percent, an all-time high, and 75 percent of consumers plan to visit locally-owned businesses as part of their holiday shopping, according to a Small Business Saturday Consumer Insights Survey released this week by the National Federation of Independent Businesses and American Express
Credit: LevittownNow.com
This year, small business owners hope you join the millions who are shopping small and helping keep our communities strong.
