Shopping Small Business

Small Business Saturday is an American shopping holiday similar to Black Friday and Cyber Monday, held during the Saturday after Thanksgiving, during one of the busiest shopping periods of the year. This Saturday is always the last one in November, so falls between November 24 and November 30.
First observed in the United States on November 27, 2010, it is a counterpart to Black Friday and Cyber Monday, which feature big box large chain stores and online retail. By contrast, Small Business Saturday encourages holiday shoppers to patronize brick and mortar businesses that are small and local. Small Business Saturday is a registered trademark and was created by American Express. In 2010, the holiday was promoted by American Express on nationwide radio and television commerical campaigns. That year Amex bought advertising inventory on Facebook, which it then gave to its small merchant account holders, and also gave rebates to new customers to promote the event. 
The shopping holiday is a great opportunity for shoppers who want to support the local small businesses that keep their towns unique and their community members who run them. With a number of community activities dedicated to promoting and supporting Small Business Saturday, it often also serves as a way to bring the community together. Small businesses make up more than 99% of businesses in the U.S., and employ 47.5% of the country’s workers. On average, only 50% of these business survive to pass the five-year mark. With the convenience of big-box stores and online marketplaces like Amazon, independent businesses can sometimes find gaining traction during the holiday season to be a challenge. But Small Business Saturday’s efforts to draw attention to the benefits of shopping local are working to drive awareness of the importance of small business and to encourage shoppers to put their money into community institutions. 
Past statistics show that 112 million people went out to shop small on Small Business Saturday in 2016. Thats a 13% increase from 2015. Among all those people, 81% said they encouraged friends and family to shop small! 
Small businesses donate 250% more than larger businesses do to non profits and community causes. If you spend $100 dollars at a local business, roughly $68 dollars stays in the local community. If you spend the same at a larger business only $43 stays in the community. So support you community this Small Business Saturday!