On the Saturday after Black Friday across America, shopping small can lead to big gains for businesses and customers alike.

Small Business Saturday is an annual post-holiday shopping day celebrated nationwide that encourages shoppers to buy from small, local community businesses.

Created by American Express in 2010 during a nationwide recession, and officially co-sponsored by the U.S. Small Business Administration, Small Business Saturday has grown into a movement that has reached an estimated $23.3 billion in sales, according to the 2021 Small Business Consumer Insights Survey.

In 2011, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed a resolution in support of the day.

This year, nearly 32 million independent businesses are expected to participate.

Last year, an estimated 51 million shoppers participated in Small Business Saturday, according to data from the National Retail Federation. This year, 59% of holiday shoppers plan to participate in Small Business Saturday, which is more than Black Friday (56%), according to a survey conducted by Bankrate.

????️ Mark your calendar: #SmallBusinessSaturday is November 26!

Show some love ???? for small businesses in your community and #ShopSmall ????️ throughout the holiday season and beyond.

▶️ Learn how you can participate: https://t.co/UIbDwhkx3Q pic.twitter.com/zyTsISl7Nd

— SBA (@SBAgov) November 17, 2022

Vandergrift Business Crawl

Patti Young of Parks Township grew up in Vandergrift and recalled a time when shopping at independently owned, local stores was the norm.

Young didn’t mince words when describing her shopping habits while enjoying a coffee Tuesday at the newly opened Grant Ave. Coffee Co. in Vandergrift.

“I would rather pay more to support a local business because I like to support the locals, and I’m not a fan of the chain stores,” said Young, a grandmother of three. “I don’t like the crowds of the big crowd stores, and when I shop locally, I find unique items.”

East West Boutique in Vandergrift organized the year’s inaugural Small Business Saturday Vandergrift Business Crawl.

Participants in the crawl will have a chance to win $500 worth of gift cards in the event’s gift card jackpot raffle. To qualify, shoppers must visit 10 businesses and receive a stamp on the flyer from each respective location. No purchase is necessary.

“Eat and shop your way around the downtown business district to show support for your community,” said East West Boutique co-owner Jen Zatko Atchison.

Young said she plans to shop at Gifted Hands Artisan-Made Gifts in Murrysville, Pounds’ Turkey Farm in Allegheny Township and other shops in Vandergrift on Saturday.

“I try and prioritize shopping locally, but I do shop online. I can’t recall the last time I went to Walmart because I just don’t like the busy atmosphere,” Young said.

Vandergrift shoppers are invited to complete their raffle flyer by patronizing these businesses: G&G Restaurant, East West Boutique, The Gathering Room, Honey & Heart, Ianni’s, Allusion Brewing Co., Full Circle Gifts, Wooden Door Winery, Grant Ave. Coffee Co. and Sweetlane Chocolate Shop.

Additional businesses donating gift cards are Pugliese Flowers & Gifts, Bobbie’s Jewelers, AJ’s Restaurant, Tees N Tops, Lydia Leighs Salon, End of the Road Antiques and 3D Printing on Grant.

Joyce Hanz | Tribune-Review Patti Young of Parks Township enjoys a coffee Tuesday inside the newly opened Grant Ave. Coffee Co. in Vandergrift.  

Vandergrift Mayor Lenny Collini grew up in Vandergrift. When he strolls the borough streets this time of year, he can almost smell the popcorn from the former Murphy’s 5 & 10 store.

“Even though it’s been gone for many years, I still reflect time and time again that we’ll see the joy of the holiday season in our downtown Vandergrift,” Collini said. “Even today, our small-business owners play a very big role in our economy.”

Collini credited an increase in new businesses in Vandergrift as providing a sense of rebirth in the historic borough.

“I get it. We all shop online these days from our homes and office for goods,” Collini said, “but to really feel the holiday season you go downtown and shop locally.”

Allusion Brewing Co. co-owner Robert Buchanan looks forward to Small Business Saturday all year.

The only brewery in Vandergrift, Allusion recently co-sponsored the inaugural Octoberfest in the borough, and Buchanan is determined to keep building community relations and welcoming all shoppers to Vandergrift.

“The support of local shoppers is the bread and butter of our core business,” Buchanan said. “Without local support, we could not survive as a company.”

Luminate Leechburg

Without the financial backing that big box stores have, being a small business owner can, at times, be stressful, said Cicero’s Bar & Grill owner Melinda Albert.

“We try to provide, support and give to the community,” Albert said. “We’re like ‘Cheers’ in Leechburg.”

On Saturday, Cicero’s will offer half-price appetizers with a meal purchase, and drink specials, such as $4 alcoholic slushies. Albert hopes to feed many hungry shoppers.

“We’re on our own,” Albert said. “ We’ve been in business for 18 years. Covid really got us, but we kept going. My daughter and I continue to keep it going in memory of my husband and her dad.”

Melinda’s late husband, Ricky Albert, died Christmas morning in 2020 from covid-related complications.

Leechburg’s Small Business Saturday kicks off at 8 a.m. at CoCo Coffeehouse on Market Street.

Activities include ornament decorating, Santa visits from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at CoCo, a table display by Leechburg Museum & Historical Society, carolers from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. and a Scavenger Hunt from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

The daylong activities coincide with the annual Luminate Leechburg event that culminates with a parade at 5:30 p.m.

Santa will light the tree along Market Street at 6 p.m., after the parade.

The day is sponsored by the Leechburg Area Community Association, which supports the more than 50 businesses in the small borough.

“It’s a day to celebrate and support small businesses and all they do for the communities,” said Leechburg Councilwoman Doreen Smeal, a volunteer and LACA member.

Joyce Hanz | Tribune-Review Gilpin residents and Leechburg Pizza Co. co-owners Steve and Jamie Senjan show off a pizza and hoagie inside their pizzeria at 101 Market St. “I think Small Business Saturday is important because every item you buy from a small business is made with time, effort and care,” Jamie Senjan said.  

For the newly opened Leechburg Pizza Co. on Market Street, it’s the first Small Business Saturday for co-owners Steve and Jamie Senjan.

The couple said they always prefer to patronize small-business restaurants rather than chain ones.

“I think Small Business Saturday is important because every item you buy from a small business is made with time, effort and care. I wish we had Small Business Saturday once a month,” Jamie Senjan said.

Latrobe’s Sweet Saturday

Merchants in Latrobe hold an annual Cookie Crawl on Small Business Saturday that entices shoppers to engage in old-fashioned brick-and-mortar shopping.

Participating businesses offer a free cookie to each visiting shopper, while supplies last.

Laurie Corbett, owner of Eclectique boutique and organizer of this year’s event, will serve chocolate chip cookies along with coffee or cocoa.

“Everybody’s going to start out with at least 150 cookies,” she said of the businesses. “The first year, we ran out. It’s a popular thing.”

Corbett said Small Business Saturday has been a boon for shops like hers.

“It’s really helped us local businesses to get some attention,” she said. “People aren’t always shopping online. They want that extra personal touch and experience.”

Emily Pasqualino, who operates Latrobe’s Paper Heart Social Goods and Event Studios, helped start the Cookie Crawl in 2019.

She said that in the first years following the arrival of the covid-19 pandemic, “Everything slowed a bit, but we were still able to pull off the Cookie Crawl. We wrapped them individually.

“This year, we’re expecting to be back to full attendance. We’re looking for a year similar to 2019.”

For smaller, independently-owned stores like hers, she said, Small Business Saturday is “our version of Black Friday. We know people are going to go out and buy, we just hope they spend their money with the businesses downtown instead of the big-box stores.

“It’s more relaxed. You’re avoiding the big crowds. Compared to shopping online,” Pasqualino said. “You’re not worrying about shipping or something arriving late. You have your item right then and there.”

New Kensington Shop Small Crawl

New Kensington Mayor Tom Guzzo is gearing up to welcome shoppers to the city’s second “Shop Small Crawl” on Saturday.

New this year is a free bus that will transport shoppers through various stops downtown and in New Kensington’s Parnassus section.

The crawl, established last year to showcase the city’s growing downtown business scene, expects to have about 50 businesses participating, Guzzo said.

“Last year’s event was a great success, and we’re real excited about this year’s crawl,” Guzzo said. “As our downtown continues to grow, this is such a great opportunity for people to come down, support and shop at the stores and eat at the great restaurants we have. It should be a really fun event.”

Joyce Hanz | Tribune-Review Pastor, the house specialty at Taqueria El Pastorcito in New Kensington, features pork marinated for 16 hours in a secret family-recipe sauce.  

Taqueria El Pastorcito owner Jose Tecuanhuehue, 38, opened his family-owned and operated Mexican eatery in New Kensington last year.

The family served up authentic Mexican dishes at 929 Fourth Ave. during last year’s event.

“It’s very important. It was very busy and had a line, and it helped us get new customers,” he said. “I got all kinds of customers. People come from Freeport and all over the Alle-Kiski Valley.

“This Saturday, we will have a special pozole, a white hominy soup with pork and birria, a shredded beef cooked on the stove for five hours, eaten either as a taco or by the plate.”

Jeannette Sparkle of Christmas parade

Jeannette is having its Sparkle of Christmas parade and craft fair at the American Legion plus food trucks as a way to bring potential customers into the downtown area for Small Business Saturday.

“There are a lot of businesses in Jeannette, but many are in different areas around town,” said Carole Babish, president of the Jeannette Business Association.

She predicts that Clay Avenue, where the parade will be held, will see a growth in business soon, as projects are ongoing at various empty storefronts.

“I’m hoping within a year or two things will be changing,” she said. “Since Sobel’s Obscure Brewery opened last month on Clay Avenue, the downtown area has been seeing more visitors.”

The parade begins at 2 p.m., and the craft fair runs from noon to 5.

Irwin

For Denise Bowen, owner of Junque Genius Studio and Marketplace in downtown Irwin, Small Business Saturday is the “best day of the year.”

Kristina Serafini | Tribune-Review Aaron Bowen (left) and Rich Bowen, son and husband, respectively, of Junque Genius Studio & Marketplace owner Denise Bowen, work on pieces inside the Irwin shop.  

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