Area businesses stress impact of buying local this holiday season
Think gifts. Think local. It is Small Business Saturday.
Local shops, crafters, associations offering the work of area artists and others selling goods and services of individual entrepreneurs hope Black Friday shopaholics spent time “caching” some cash for the next day.
“Shop local has a real benefit for the local community,” said Joe Viele, executive director of the Southern Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce, which has an in-house gift certificate program perfect for local residents who want to take care of their holiday shopping while keeping the money the community in which they live.
Indeed, Viele admits that quick flicks of the fingers on a keyboard can send Amazon scurrying to someone’s house, but it’s just not the same.
“Sure the convenience is there, but the money isn’t for the local community. When you spend local, you help the waitress or store owner, who uses that the pay someone else local to take care of the lawn or run a gas station,” he said.
It has, in so many ways, a trickle-down effect, he added.
Viele said the best way to consider patronizing local businesses is to look at what they sell.
So, he has just what that shopper needs — a lengthy list at https://bit.ly/southernRIbiz that has more than 250 retail, services, automotive, health, beauty and spa, restaurants, bakeries and taprooms, home and garden, travel and lodging and entertainment businesses in Southern Rhode Island.
The gift certificates come in $10, $25, and $50 increments and are available locally at the chamber, 230 Old Tower Hill Road in Wakefield.
The gift certificates are also available for purchase by phone by calling the chamber at 401-783-2801. Viele said the chamber will ship them at no extra charge.
“Our in-house gift certificate program is unique in that it truly provides the recipient of a Chamber gift certificate the gift of choice,” he said.
He added that the Chamber gift certificate program also offers a corporate buying program for those companies who would like to purchase them for their employees, vendors, or customers.
In addition, other organizations also are marking this day, too. The federal Small Business Administration and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce encourage communities nationwide to promote spending at small businesses.
According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, shopping small is about investing in your community. For every dollar spent at a small business, an average of $0.67 stays in that business’s local neighborhood.
“Shopping small infuses money back into our local economies, promotes vibrant and diverse communities, and celebrates the important role of small businesses in the national economy,” the Chamber said.
It also said that up to 65% of small businesses’ annual revenue was generated during the holidays last year.
According to a consortium of business development advocates in Rhode Island, small businesses make up 98% of registered companies and provide jobs to 57% of all people employed in the state.
Founded by American Express in 2010 and officially cosponsored by SBA since 2011, the SBA said that Small Business Saturday has become essential to small businesses’ busiest shopping season.
The SBA said that projected spending among U.S. consumers who shopped at independent retailers and restaurants on Small Business Saturday reached an estimated $17.9 billion, according to the 2022 Small Business Saturday Consumer Insights Survey commissioned by American Express.
The Rhode Island consortium, comprised of representatives from the Small Business Administration, Center for Women and Enterprise, Veterans Business Outreach Center, and the Rhode Island Developmental Disabilities Council, is holding an exhibition on Saturday at the Crowne Plaza in Warwick, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The group’s event is called Small Business Saturday Shop RI, featuring more than 150 diverse vendors from across the Ocean State.
They include entrepreneurs, artists, Farm Fresh RI, Social Venture Enterprises, veterans, minority-owned, and disability-owned businesses — and it’s “the best place to shop small in R.I. with a wide selection of unique services and products in one convenient location,” organizers said.
This event is free, and there is free parking.
Small Business Saturday has been steadily increasing in popularity as an alternative to the chaos of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, which typically support major retail companies.
Organizers said that in 2021, an estimated 3,000 shoppers came, and in 2022, the count grew even more to 3,500.
The day allows visitors to browse a cross-section of businesses from across the state without the hassle of driving from place to place. It will enable businesses to network with those from other communities.