Downtown Shops Discuss the Benefits of Small Business Saturday

The second annual Small Business Saturday had shoppers flocking to Birmingham Saturday afternoon, supporting the idea of buying local and keeping these independent stores alive in the community.

Type of Store: Children’s couture

How important is the “idea” of Small Business Saturday? “People are so accustomed to Black Friday and going to malls but it is so important to support your local businesses and community because everybody likes to have that vibrant downtown but we need to have businesses in order to maintain that,” store owner Julie Grippo said. “People don’t realize how huge it is if just everyone did make one purchase in a small business."

Type of Merchandise: Women’s accessories

How is Small Business Saturday going? “We participated in it last year and it went really well last year and it’s going really well this year, it gets people in to shop and support local businesses,” said Kendall Cameron, a sales associate.

Type of Merchandise: Various items ranging from décor to accessories

How important is the “idea” of Small Business Saturday? “I believe that on Black Friday, customers go into the malls but on Saturday, they can come into the city and just enjoy all of our stores and what we have to offer,” said Jackie Assaf, sales associate. “It is really important to keep the flow of the city going.”

Type of Store: Lifestyle home décor

How do you foresee the rest of the holiday shopping season going? “I think there might still be a little hesitation because of the economy, it’s been gloomy for a while but some people are tired of hearing the bad news and negativity and just ready to move on while others are still holding onto their purse strings,” owner Stacey Leuliette said. “I will say Black Friday was much busier for us, we were slammed, but today we haven’t seen that much traffic.”

Spice & Tea Exchange of Birmingham

Type of Merchandise: Loose teas, spices and in-house custom blends

How has business been on Black Friday and Small Business Saturday? “We just opened this weekend and it’s been going great, we’ve had a lot of traffic down here and it has just been wonderful,” said co-owner Jennifer Green.

Type of Company: Eight different stores ranging from unique goods to clothing to home décor make up the inside of this building.

How important is the “idea” of Small Business Saturday? “Shopping local and keeping people around here in business is important; I think it’s a lot better to come here than go to Nordstrom or Macy’s because there’s always fun, new stuff," said Suzanne Dehko, Parlor owner. “If you look around in our store, you’ll find a lot of things that most people don’t have.”

Type of Store: Fine and creative jewelry

How do you foresee the rest of the holiday shopping season going? “I do think this weekend has kick started our holiday sales especially because we have so many people who are repeat customers of ours who maybe have moved out of town or they have family in from out of town and they are happy to come in to see us because they love the personal attention they get,” said Pam McCardle.

Type of Store: Women’s Boutique

How has business been on Black Friday and Small Business Saturday?  “I can’t remember ever being so busy in the past four years which was great,” said co-owner Karen Daskas. “I think the small businesses really add something to a community because every store has their own personality, character and charm; my sister and I truly appreciate the business of people shopping at Tender.”

Type of Store: Outdoor apparel

How important is the “idea” of Small Business Saturday? “A lot of businesses down here are small businesses and it’s where you get the growth,” said Ian Kwiotek, sales associate. “We have a lot of people coming in from the auto industry down here to shop; the local businesses just keep money in the community as well as support.”

Type of Store: Pet boutique

How important is the “idea” of Small Business Saturday? “It helps bring awareness to these stores,” said co-owner Jeff Merriam. “At an independent store, you can bring in products that you know the customer actually wants, there’s a huge difference from in corporate stores where you usually don’t get to talk to anyone who is able to make any sort of decision.”