Small businesses thrive
Lodi shoppers flock downtown for holiday deals
With big-box stores and online retailers luring consumers with blockbuster deals to open the Christmas season, many communities came together to celebrate Small Business Saturday last weekend.
In Lodi, shoppers took to downtown in search of one-of-akind gifts and merchants welcomed the extra traffic.
“We increased our product stock two weeks in advance because we knew we would have more people looking to shop,” said Chieng Vang, manager of Lodi Junction.
As the popularity for the shopping day grows, more small businesses are taking advantage in an effort to boost sales and build their customer base.
The National Federation of Independent Business reported U.S. consumers who shopped at independent retailers spent an estimated $17.8 billion on Saturday, and have spent a reported $103 billion since the day began in 2010.
“There was always a crowd, and the foot traffic was constant,” Vang said.
“We kept our normal business hours, and we did offer special sales and that brought people in.”
For small businesses the challenge of keeping up with big chain stores and online sales has proven to be difficult, but not impossible. Many of the businesses in Lodi compete by offering deals and discounts for an extended period, as well as personalized customer service.
Local furniture store Minerva's offered extravagant pieces of furniture at a higher discounted rate specifically for Saturday shoppers, while also extending their sale by a whole week.
“Our decision to extend our sale another week was due to the holiday weekend,” store owner Scott Molinari said. “We know shoppers who want to take advantage of the sales, but leave town for the holidays and miss out on the lowered prices.”
For many small shop owners they are able to advertise and drive traffic for the day through their social media pages, such as The Purple House, who advertised Small Business Saturday on their Facebook page and showcased aspects of their stock that would be available for shoppers. The Lodi Chamber of Commerce also ran ads through Facebook to garner more community support and awareness.
For small businesses, heightened awareness helps build their client base, and Vang said a lot of the shoppers that came in on Saturday were new shoppers.