'Back and forth' trade the key to Small Business Saturday
Nov 25, 2012 (Menafn - Times-News - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --Bryan Shoffner said when it comes to small businesses, it's important that the little guys look out for one another.
Shoffner, assistant manager of Graham Sporting Goods on South Church Street, said a woman came shopping Saturday morning looking for a pull-along cart for her golf clubs. Graham Sporting Goods doesn't handle such things, so Shoffner referred the shopper to Randy's Golf Center & Range, another small business on Hanford Road.
"We send people back and forth," Shoffner said of his association with Randy's and other small businesses. "I won't send someone to a big box store unless I absolutely have to."
Saturday was a day for all the less-than-big-box stores to celebrate and band together. It was Small Business Saturday, a day when shoppers across the country are asked to buy from local merchants, to keep their dollars in the communities in which they live and work.
Shoffner said he supports Small Business Saturday, but said shoppers weren't knocking the door down to get into his business on this particular day. He said Graham Sporting Goods was hopping Friday, but sales were considerably slower Saturday.
"We haven't been busy today," Shoffner said. "I don't know if everybody shopped yesterday or what."
Small Business Saturday is a shopping holiday held as a counterpart to Black Friday --the day after Thanksgiving -- and Monday's Cyber Monday. Those latter two events feature big box stores and e-commerce stores, respectively.
Small Business Saturday promotes smaller stores -- shops that are often one of a kind. The event was first held in 2010, promoted by American Express through a national radio and television advertising campaign. It has caught on well, with a number of small business groups issuing proclamations concerning the campaign and politicians coming out in its support.
Proponents of Small Business Saturday ask consumers to spend at least 50 with independently owned small businesses.
In Graham, Crystal Waggoner, the owner of Full Circle, a North Main Street business that specializes in vintage items and collectibles, said she wasn't aware of Small Business Saturday until a customer mentioned it earlier in the day. Wagoner's husband, Mike, said he didn't know if shoppers supporting Small Business Saturday was the reason, but said Full Circle was a happening place Saturday.
"We've been busy all day," he said.
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