Local Businesses To Offer Deals For Shop Small Stratford Day

STRATFORD, CT — As far as Howard Aspinwall is concerned, the biggest thing Stratford residents can do this weekend is shop small.

Aspinwall is the owner of Mellow Monkey Gifts and Home Decor, and the organizer of Shop Small Stratford Day, Stratford's local version of the nationwide event, Small Business Saturday. The day gives shoppers a conscious opportunity to patronize small businesses, according to Aspinwall. For a town like Stratford, which doesn't have a traditional Main Street, that's important, he said.

"There's a lot to do in Stratford, you just have to know where to go," he said.

Supporting small businesses matters, not just for the owners and employees, but for everyone in town, Aspinwall said, noting 67 cents of every dollar spent at a small business stays in the community. Local businesses are also more likely to sponsor town sports teams or host fundraisers for area organizations, he said.

"Those businesses are giving back and that money's staying in the community," he said.

This will be the second year Shop Small Stratford Day has included businesses that operate online or out of the owner's home, according to Aspinwall.

In addition to coordinating Shop Small Stratford Day, Aspinwall runs shopsmallstratford.com, a website dedicated to spotlighting Stratford's small businesses year-round. The site currently includes a master list of the Shop Small Stratford Day promotions being offered by more than 50 participating businesses.

Open Door Tea will have a free tea tasting and other deals, for example, while Beyond Hair is raffling off a basket of products. All toys at H3 Pet Supply will be marked down 50 percent and anyone who spends more than $5 at Zack's Frozen Yogurt gets a free cone. For a full list of Shop Small Stratford Day offerings, visit https://bit.ly/33ptlZx.

The event's local corporate sponsor is Milford Bank. Small Business Saturday is sponsored by American Express.