‘Shop Small’ event gives stores a boost in downtown Clinton
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Browsers check out some of the Christmas merchandise at Hoskins in the Flat on Market Street during last weekend’s Shop Small Saturday event, designed to entice people to spend some of their holiday money with local businesses. - G. Chambers Williams III
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Customers browse the Fine Things antique shop on Market Street in downton Clinton during the Shop Small Saturday event last weekend. - G. Chambers Williams III
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Ashley Burt, right, proprietor of the Mystic Orb store on Cullom Street, waits on customer Tanya Brown of Clinton during the Shop Small Saturday event last weekend in Historic Downtown Clinton. - G. Chambers Williams III
Downtown Clinton’s locally owned shops enjoyed bristling business last weekend as shoppers came from near and far during the annual “Shop Small Saturday” event,.
The event was designed to entice people to forgo the big-box stores at least one day of the busiest holiday shopping weekend of the year.
Merchants throughout the downtown area reported a good turnout of shoppers who came ready to spend money.
“We’ve been busy all day,” said Ashley Burt, proprietor of the Mystic Orb shop on Cullom Street.
Other shops also experienced brisk sales and scores of visitors.
Clinton’s Shop Small Saturday event is hosted annually by the Historic Downtown Clinton organization, but it is among similar events nationwide, called Small Business Saturday, held every year on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
Small Business Saturday was founded by American Express in 2010, and has officially been co-sponsored by the U.S. Small Business Administration since 2011.
“Small Business Saturday has become an important part of small businesses’ busiest shopping season,” the SBA says. It’s described as “a day to celebrate and support small businesses and all they do for their communities,” according to the SBA website.
Spending among U.S. consumers who shopped at independent retailers and restaurants on Small Business Saturday reached an estimated $17 billion in 2023, according to the Consumer Insights Survey commissioned by American Express.
