Homewood’s Small Business Saturday draws shoppers
Business Association expands event into Sunday to provide extra support and ensure local merchants can ‘stick around’
For more than a decade, the Homewood Business Association has been encouraging area residents to shop local and support small businesses the Saturday after Thanksgiving. But at theendof a year ful lof challenges posed by COVID-19 restrictions, precautions and anxieties, the message has never before been quite so pressing.
“It’s immensely important this year to shop local,” said Julie Lawton, director of the Homewood Business Association. “To make sure these businesses stick around, they have to shop.”
In the interest of that urgency, the association for the first time expanded its usual Small Business Saturday to a two-day affair, promoting local shopping Sunday, too. It was supported by a poster and handout campaign featuring the year’s slogan of “keep the cheer here.”
While Black Friday has long been about doorbuster deals, getting the year’s “it” toys and early morning post-Thanksgiving traditions that help put many national retailers in the “black” for the year, financially speaking, Small Business Saturday asks shoppers to turn their attention toward locally owned establishments. Many, such as Lawton’s UpsaDaisy Boutique, offer deals to incentivize shoppers.
American Express has for years also thrown its weight behind the effort by putting participating businesses on a national website, offering incentives for shoppers who use their credit card and more, Lawton said. But long before this past Saturday, Lawton has seen a desire in the community to support Homewood’s businesses amid the hardship.
“I think people are trying to shop small and shop local,” she said. “We really appreciate the community support.”
Lane Brady was among those who came out to Ups a Daisy for Small Business Saturday. While she now lives in the city, her family has had a home in town since 1949. She said, in addition to her love for the shop, she sees the importance in shopping locally.
“I believe in supporting small businesses,” Brady said. “I just really believe in these businesses and the need to support them.”
Despite that outpouring of support, challenges have persisted for many. Even Small Business Saturday is difficult this year, because it involves asking people to come out to shop at a time when the number of COVID-19 cases has been spiking yet again nationally.
“We’ve seen a dip in what we normally would have,” Lawton said. “It’s been really hard for all of us.”
She said businesses in town are being “really safe” in relation to pandemic protocols. But she encouraged weary shoppers to look into curbside and local delivery options, which many of the stores are offering.
Those safety measures are in part what brought Violet Willoughby and Bonny McCoyne back to Homewood for some shopping Saturday. Both grew up in the area but now live in the city. They said they felt comfortable with how the shops in
town are doing businesses.
“I knew Home wood was taking the masks seriously,” McCoyne said.
Though the two visited a few stores, Loulou Belle, a boutique where they were waiting outside in line, is a favorite. They said they did not mind the wait to keep down the number of people inside at one time.
“It’s also a really nice day, too,” Willoughby said.
Many shoppers hopped around town Saturday but with at least one specific destination in mind. For those with literature on their loved ones’ wish lists, Bookie’s was a popular stop, with several customers saying they would rather give their money to a local shop than Amazon.
“We prefer they do that,” bookseller Rich Wojcikowski said with a laugh. “People like to come in and actually browse a bookstore.”
Carrie Bertz, another bookseller at the Homewood store, added that the benefit of a small business such as Bookie’s is that they have a better idea of who their customers are and what they want.
“We have books that would get lost in an algorithm (online),” Bertz said.
Homewood Florist offered 20% off gift items for Small Businesses Saturday, and the store was busy early Saturday. Owner Kyle Arrivo said 2020 has had its ups and downs. Weddings have been down significantly, though funerals remain a constant. And certain holidays have been better than ever for a business that has been around for six decades.
“Mother’s Day was the busiest Mother’ s Day we’ ve had, because people couldn’t be with their mothers,” Arrivo said. “We’ve been fortunate. This community is fabulous. Everyone in the Homewood- Flossmoor area is so supportive.”
At Van Sipma Jewelers, which has been family run since 1900, there were no sales on Small Business Saturday. The business has not done one for more than 100 years, with a philosophy of offering reasonable prices regularly. Instead, every purchase there gave customers the chance to win a $100 gift card.
Ashley Van Sipma, fifth generation of the family behind the store, said they had already made a few big sales Saturday morning. They see the Small Business Saturday efforts as a show of solidarity with the other independent businesses downtown.
“The business owners feed off each other,” Van Sipma said. “It’s just important to help everything local.”
Van Sipma said that local camaraderie is led by customers, who have done a lot to help their neighborhood business get through this pandemic.
“Everyone wants us to succeed, and that is the greatest compliment you can have as a business,” Van Sipma said.
James Donnelly, of Homewood’s Melody Mart, said the shop that sells instruments and offers lessons has faced tough times this year. The internet remains a major competitor to local stores, and the pandemic has made things harder in 2020. But he, too, has seen the community rally around a spot that has been in business since 1956.
“I’m really thankful for the local support,” he said. “Our community has really come out.”
He said he thinks that is, in part, because people are longing for the communal connections businesses like Melody Mart can help facilitate. While the store now offers remote and in-person lessons, there has been a high demand for in- person interactions. Customers really want to chat, with those conversations at times bordering on therapy, Donnelly said.
“Having a conversation with everyone that’s come in the door has been a beautiful thing,” he said. “People need someone to talk to.”
And COVID-19 has, in some ways, even created a new clientele of people looking to learn or rekindle their love for instruments while stuck at home, Donnelly said. But for a business that relies heavily on group activities from adult jam bands to high school groups that have largely been put on hold, continued support remains imperative.
“This last uptick has slowed everything down,” Donnelly said of the latest spike in COVID-19 cases. “We’re not out of the woods yet.”
In addition to Small Business Saturday, the Homewood Business Association has a slate of events through the holidays to provide residents with some fun and draw more attention to the town’s businesses. Those events are the Village I Spy Windows and Book Walk on Dec. 5-6, Village Ice Sculpture Walk on Dec. 12, Ladies’ Night Out Dec. 17 and Pajama Party Sale on Jan. 23. Formore details, go to explorehomewood.net.