Christina Smith is ready to see customers come out and shop today for Small Business Saturday. “We hope to see everybody there,” Smith said. “We will have extra staff on duty.” Smith is the owner of Brylah Fashions, a women’s clothing store with a location in Spanish Springs. She said the store sees good business all throughout Thanksgiving weekend, especially on Small Business Saturday. The shopping holiday takes place the Saturday after Thanksgiving. American Express created it in 2010 to encourage people to support local businesses as they do their holiday shopping. Staff at Brylah Fashions started preparing several days before the holidays along with other small businesses in the community, including Ambrosia on the Square, Rustic Rose Home Accents & Gifts and Rustic Rose Fashion Boutique.
Local small business owners are eager to see people out shopping and supporting the local businesses in the community.
“I tell people every day I appreciate the local support,” said Laure Folland, owner of Ambrosia on the Square in Lake Sumter Landing. “Our local support is so vital to the success of our business over the time we’ve been at Lake Sumter Landing, and we appreciate everyone coming out.”
Small Business Saturday is a bigger day for the Florida-themed gift shop than Black Friday. On Black Friday, she said, people tend to shop at big box stores for larger items, and Small Business Saturday is more of a social day where customers shop for smaller items.
“Saturday might be the day where they sort of take that down a notch,” Folland said. She expects this year to be just as busy as past Small Business Saturdays based on how business is going so far.
The National Retail Federation expects the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, which began Thursday and ends Monday, to have 166.3 million people out shopping. That is 8 million more shoppers than last year and the highest estimated number since the NRF began tracking holiday spending data five years ago, according to an NRF press release.
“While there is much speculation about inflation’s impact on consumer behavior, our data tells us that this Thanksgiving holiday weekend will see robust store traffic with a record number of shoppers taking advantage of value pricing,” said Matthew Shay, president and CEO of the NRF, in a press release. “We are optimistic that retail sales will remain strong in the weeks ahead, and retailers are ready to meet consumers however they want to shop with great products at prices they want to pay.”
Small Business Saturday is expected to be the third busiest day to shop behind Black Friday and Cyber Monday with about 60.4 million people out shopping, according to a press release.
The Thanksgiving weekend is a busy time for Smith, and she expects no less this weekend and today for Small Business Saturday.
“I’m hoping for a bigger and better weekend just because I think more and more people are finally out and about,” Smith said. “The busy season is here. We have a lot more to offer than previous years.”
Smith is offering multiple sales, including 65% off all regular priced items today. She also offered the sales Friday.
Rosalyn Housley, owner of Rustic Rose Home Accents & Gifts and Rustic Rose Fashion Boutique in Brownwood, expects today to be amazing at her stores. She said customers already started coming in to shop for the holidays last week.
”People love to support their favorite small businesses,” Housley said.
Senior Writer Summer Jarro can be reached at 352-753-1119, ext. 5404, or [email protected].
