Small Business Saturday’s impact

Small Business Saturday — observed this year on Nov. 25 — is dedicated to small businesses.

For 47 years, Lew’s Reliable Heat & Air Conditioning has been operating, benefiting from community support in Lake and Geauga counties. But the secondgeneration, family-owned company’s co-owner, Lisa Joles, who runs the business with her sister, Julie, knows that “life is change,” particularly when it comes to sustaining Lew’s over the years.

“My father started this in 1970 — we’ve been around a long time, and I’ve been a part of the company for 33 years,” Lisa said. “We keep barreling forward, despite all the transitions in business we’ve seen along the way, especially the significant changes like the proliferation of the big-box stores and e-commerce. We all buy from the internet, but a lot of times consumers want to feel like they’re a part of things, and that’s the advantage we, and other small businesses, have.

“We do a lot of business, and Small Business Saturday just reminds people that the ‘little guys’ are out here and can compete, with a lot to offer. And we’ve merged with the times. I remember going on service calls with my dad and stopping at pay phones to make calls to people. Then we moved forward using radios and pagers.

“Now, we use tablets to dispatch our service techs to various locations,” she said. “Moving forward doesn’t mean sacrificing identity. We remain who we are and true to my father’s vision.”

Small Business Saturday — observed this year on Nov. 25 — is the established, and encouraged, shopping day dedicated to patronizing, you guessed it, small businesses. The event serves as a counterpart to Black Thursday, Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Though Lew’s isn’t a retail business, Joles knows the day remains a substantial benefit/promotion for other businesses that provide needed services and products.

“It’s still a competition, across the board, with larger companies and the internet,” she said. “Amazon has a home services division. They’ll come out to fix a furnace, deliver groceries, birthday presents, you name it. So, Small Business Saturday is very important, it expands our brand. It’s a great networking opportunity for all non-big-box stores and companies to be acknowledged with the other holiday shopping days that are easily recognized.

“In our case, as I believe in many other small-business owners’ cases, this is more than a job to us. We take pride in this, and the tradition of this shopping holiday helps us. We’re not a place where you show up and buy something like a retail store, but the services we provide do have an impact, and we’ve worked with the community for a long time to show that.”

Lew’s, located in Fairport Harbor at 616 High St., earned $1.5 million in total sales last year and currently staffs 10.

“I don’t know if we do things that different from other companies, including Amazon, but I do know we do things well,” Joles said. “We establish connection.”

MaryAnn Bencin, audiologist and owner of MaryAnn’s Family Hearing in Painesville Township, also believes Small Business Saturday’s importance shouldn’t go unnoticed.

“No matter the size of the business, no matter the competition with big-box stores or e-commerce, people are going to pay for services, and that day is nice, it helps communities realize we’re here for them, too,” she said. “We (non-retail companies) are kind of the forgotten people when Small Business Saturday comes around.

“That day makes people appreciate the differences of experience we provide. We’re caring for people and that comfort and consistency is something people don’t forget. Building relationships makes all the difference.”

MaryAnn’s Family Hearing, at 1701 Mentor Ave., Suite 5, has been operating since 2004.

“That day makes people appreciate the differences of experience we provide..” — MaryAnn Bencin, audiologist and owner of MaryAnn’s Family Hearing in Painesville Township