Small Business Saturday brings community together | WJHL

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) –Small Business Saturday is an important time for businesses to stay on top of their sales, but it also brings the community closer together.

“We’re enjoying the revival of downtown Johnson City, visiting all of the new shops that we’re surprised to find down here,” said Rack Cross as he shopped the stores on East Main Street in downtown Johnson City.

Other shoppers, like Cross, continue to shop without the worry of higher costs due to inflation. Cross says he doesn’t seem to see it affecting prices in the store.

“We’re buying day-to-day items down at the Generalist and they’re just supporting local people,” said Cross. “I forget how many artists they have on display in their local products. Most everything is under 20 bucks. So I don’t find that to be inflated.”

Businesses like Hometown Cottage on Spring Street are happy that customers keep coming because it helps their shop and keeps the profits in the community.

“They’re like trying to support their family,” said Hometown Cottage worker, Kaitlyn Brown. “They’re not a big corporation like Walmart is with the Black Friday or all the stores in the mall, so it’s really important to help out these people and their families and people like us who are just working in these stores.”

With their local and handmade items, they say it’s better to shop in-store for the best experience.

“It’s nice to just come in and see all of the little vendors and everything,” said Hometown Cottage worker, Marianne Bryan. “You get to smell all of the candles and see all of the stuff that they’ve made.”

Just down the block at Boomtown & Company, business is booming for them as well.

“Business has been wonderful today,” said store manager, Christy Leonard. “We’ve had lots of our customers coming in today, visiting and shopping.”

A shopper in Boomtown, Alivia Johnson, no longer lives in Johnson City, but says Boomtown reminds her of home.

“We come to this store every time we come in town because like a lot of their stuff is original and it’s homey,” said Johnson.

Both shops are closed on Sunday. Boomtown & Company opens at 11 a.m. on Monday and Hometown Cottage in Johnson City opens at 11 a.m. on Tuesday. Boomtown & Company will have extended hours closer to Christmas.