Opinion Among Downtown Retailers Mixed Going Into Small Business Saturday

While the emphasis on Black Friday tends to be on big box retailers, small businesses are teaming up with American Express this year to make a change in the post-Thanksgiving shopping experience. And in Birmingham, small shops are lining up to participate.

With the national promotion, American Express is offering cardholders who register their card a $25 credit if they spend $25 or more at a qualifying independent business on Saturday. Additionally American Express is donating $1 to Girls Inc. (up to $1 million) for every person who 'likes' its promotion on Facebook.

"It's not about sales, meaning discounting, it's to bring attention to support small, independent owned businesses," said Tender co-owner, Karen Daskas. "After all, they're the heart beat of the communities."

When Daskas found out about the promotion a few weeks ago she was so moved that she printed bulleted fliers and took them around to Birmingham business owners so downtown businesses could start promoting this shopping tool. She also posted it on Tender's Facebook page.

Daskas said that she has been a big promoter of buying local for years and that Small Business Saturday plays hand-in-hand with what she has always advocated.

Although Daskas believes in the concept, others are skeptical of how much influence a promotion such as Small Business Saturday will have.

"I mean I think it's cool, but no one is going to say I've got to go get to that independent store because American Express told me to," said owner of , Lennon Caruso.

Caruso thinks that participating in Black Friday isn't just for big box stores, and reguarly offers sales on a smaller scale that day. Last year, Caruso Caruso offered a "golden ticket" promotion on Black Friday, with customers able to earn 20 percent off their purchase through Sunday using a "golden ticket" handed out between 9-11 a.m. on Friday. Caruso said he offered the deal again this year.

"Being an independent retailer we don't usually bite on that kind of stuff. It's really a tip of the hat to all of our customers because people are expecting some kind of gimmicky thing for the weekend," Caruso said.

Even though business owners would like to see stronger support for independent businesses, Tender, Shades Optical and Caruso Caruso were pleased with their recent business ventures.

"We've definitely noticed an up tick in our business recently," Daskas said. "But things like this still make a difference in the economy and community."

Bill Koppin, owner of Shades Optical, said he typically has a rush of customers over Thanksgiving weekend but said he still likes the added promotional tool.

"We're a small business that is really committed to quality, service and detail and we attract that kind of customer and that customer typically ends up being an American Express customer, so it's a nice partnership," Koppin said.