Small Business Saturday 2018: Who You Can Support In DC

You may not realize it, but our independently owned boutiques, gift shops and mom-and-pop hardware stores struggle mightily to compete against malls, big box stores and online retailers. Small Business Saturday, held annually on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, was created to give these smaller enterprises a boost, and in D.C., locally owned businesses are participating in the Nov. 24 event.

They are listed below. Click on the links to go to their websites.

Small Business Saturday events include not only sales on things you won’t find at the mall or other places, but events that bring the community together.

Tell Us: Did we miss any Small Business Saturday events in Arlington? Tell us about them in the comments, or better yet, post them directly on Patch.

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American Express established Small Business Saturday in 2010 to help local businesses reeling from the Great Recession. The U.S. Senate passed a resolution a year later encouraging businesses in all 50 states to participate in what has morphed into a nationwide “shop small” movement. Last year, some 7,200 local businesses in all 50 states participated.

What’s happened during the history of Small Business Saturday has helped independent retailers and restaurants keep their doors open. Their customers have spent an estimated $85 billion during the first eight Small Business Saturday events, according to American Express.

“Shopping small has a significant and positive effect on local communities, and we hope Small Business Saturday will help to amplify that effect during the crucial holiday shopping season,” Elizabeth Rutledge, chief marketing officer at American Express, said in a statement. “When we spend local, small businesses thrive. And when small businesses thrive, we all thrive.”

A new study commissioned by American Express shows that U.S. small businesses contribute $4.8 trillion to the GDP, equivalent to that of Japan, which has the third-largest economy in the world. The Small Business Economic Impact Study takes a county-level look at the economic benefits of shopping locally and how vital small businesses are to communities.

Among the findings:

• An average of two-thirds of every dollar spent at small businesses in the United States stays in the community.
• Every dollar spent at a small business creates an additional 50 cents in local business activity as a result of employee spending and businesses purchasing local goods and services.
• In addition to small businesses directly employing members of the community, spending by those small businesses and their employees in the area also supports jobs. In fact, the study found, for every 10 jobs at a small business, another seven are supported in the local community.

This year, 97 percent of consumers surveyed by American Express and its partner, the National Federation of Independent Businesses, said they think Small Business Saturday has improved their communities. Another 91 percent think it’s more important than ever to support small businesses this holiday season, and 83 percent plan to do at least some of their holiday shopping at independently owned retailers or restaurants, either in person or online.

As shopping habits further shift from brick-and-mortar stores to online marketplaces, nearly two-thirds of those surveyed said they’ll seek out small, independently owned retailers while they’re perusing the internet. Among them, 59 percent say they’ll shop online on Small Business Saturday, and 40 percent said they plan to shop on a small retailer’s website on Cyber Monday, observed on the Monday after Thanksgiving.

Retailers that buy in bulk may be able offer a lower price — or not — but there’s more at stake for independent businesses.

“For small business owners, their business is not just a business,” American Express says. “To them, it is an extension of who they are. Giving the local businesses within your community a chance is crucial to not only their survival, but to give them an opportunity to win you over as a customer.”

WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMVER 28: President Barack Obama buys ice cream for his daughters Malia and Sasha at Pleasant Pops during Small Business Saturday on November 28, 2015, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Aude Guerrucci-Pool/Getty Images)