Standing among about 250 guitars and keyboards in his downtown Irwin store, Kevin McDonald said he is gearing up for the post-Thanksgiving rush that will be Black Friday, followed by Small Business Saturday.
“We are stocked and ready for the holiday. We love it,” McDonald said of the expected influx of customers that are anticipated to walk through the doors of Main Street Music & Sound. McDonald is one of the co-owners of the store, which has been in Irwin for seven years.
McDonald, whose business was in Swissvale for 33 years, was among several retail shop owners in the region who said they have benefited from Small Business Saturday. American Express started the initiative 10 years ago. It now also is co-sponsored by the U.S. Small Business Administration. The day, held the Saturday after Thanksgiving, is aimed at getting shoppers to spend money at small locally owned businesses.
“Shopping small has really taken off. It’s offering more personal service” than customers can get at larger stores, said Carol Gaffey, owner of the Crossroads Boutique & Cattiva in Greensburg.
Gaffey’s store sells women’s fashion clothing and accessories. Customers intentionally seek out businesses like hers and other places to shop local, Gaffey said. She speaks from the experience of many holiday shopping seasons, as she will celebrate her 50th year in business in 2020. Shoppers want to support local businesses and keep their money in the community, Gaffey said.
Keeping it local
About 67 cents of every dollar spent at a small business remains in the local community, according to the 2018 Small Business Economic Impact Study, commissioned by American Express. The study also found that every dollar spent at a small business — typically those with less than 100 employees — creates another 50 cents in local business activity as a result of employee spending and businesses purchasing local goods and services.
Shoppers who patronize stores in Greensburg, Irwin, Jeannette, Latrobe, Ligonier, Mt. Pleasant, Scottdale and Youngwood will be among the millions of shoppers nationwide buying in smaller towns. An estimated 88 million people “shopped small” last year on the special day, according to the Small Business Administration.
Small Business Saturday “is one of the busiest days of the Christmas shopping season,” said Kevin Miscik, owner of Lapels, A Fine Men’s Clothier in downtown Greensburg.
”Our customers definitely support us. People come and seek us out” from surrounding communities, said Miscik, who has been in the retail clothing business for 33 years.
The good aspect about Small Business Saturday is that “it encourages people to shop locally,” said Mary Jo DePalma, who owns J&J Jewelers of Jeannette with her husband, Jeff.
“It’s pretty steady,” DePalma said.
Angel Tungstel, owner of Paws on Main, is expecting a busy day at her shop not far from the refurbished Diamond in downtown Ligonier.
“We’re doing paws ornaments,” Tungstel said.
The Rose Style Shoppe in downtown Latrobe is expecting another busy day Saturday, said Ronda Goetz, the third-generation owner of the women’s fashion and gift shop that her grandmother opened in 1932.
Shopping the small local stores “is a good opportunity for the family that is home for the holiday, to get together and shop,” Goetz said.
Facing competition from the big box stores and online shopping, Miscik said the small businesses have to offer their customers something extra on Small Business Saturday and throughout the year.
“We are offering products and services you can’t get anywhere else. It is shopping the way it used to be, and they are looking for something they can’t get in other places,” Miscik said, adding the key is “service, service and service.”
