There are only 5 days until Black Friday followed the next day with Small Business Saturday.  Personally, I think shopping at a small business is so much more personal – the people are friendly and really want to help you find what you are looking for. Not to mention usually small businesses are where I tend to find either personalized or very unique gifts – the kind I prefer to find for friends and family.

Sure, they’re not going to have the same kind of discounts that big box stores are throwing at us for Black Friday, but they also won’t have the big crowds and long lines to deal with (and I’m not good with big crowds and long lines) plus I’ll be supporting people who live right here in my small town.  Even the hubby prefers to shop at the local hardware store where the eccentric owner is always there, and regales interesting stories of the ‘good old days’. 

Rather than going out to a chain restaurant for birthdays and anniversaries, we like to order from a local Italian place that’s owned by a sweet Italian Mama with her sons – her recipes have been handed down through generations, and no other place has matched her Chicken Marsala which is my favorite.  They also love it when the hubby orders his dinner extra-extra spicy – they tease him about being Italian in spirit.

Some of my favorite memories growing up was going ‘downtown’ to the former small town I grew up in, spending my allowance on quirky items from Mom-and-Pop stores thanks to my mom taking us to those cool places. 

When we do our road trips for vacation, we always make it a point to stop at small towns and small shops on the way to buy souvenirs that you can’t find at a big tourist gift shop – I’ve added some very cool (and handmade) deer to my extensive deer collection.  I migrate towards one-of-a-kind vs. mass-produced stuff for myself and for my friends and family who have quirky collections.

This Saturday I’m looking forward to taking Princess Nagger around to some of our local small shops to see what she can find to add to her growing eclectic collections, too.  Sort of like an extension of her birthday from last week – I love how excited she is to explore the small shops right here in our small town. 

Usually it will trigger her own entrepreneurial spirit, like the time she set up her own Dinosaur Store in the back of my former mom-van:

Don’t forget you can find a list of places to shop small that are local to you. You can also show your support and share your small business stories on Twitter using the hashtag #SmallBizSat.

What are some of your favorite small businesses?

 

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Note: I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for American Express. I received a promotional item as a thank-you for participating. As always, all opinions are mine and not influenced by outside sources. See my Disclosure Policy here.

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