Shop Ellicott City For Small Business Saturday 2018

ELLICOTT CITY, MD — Independently owned boutiques, gift shops and mom-and-pop hardware stores compete mightily against big box retailers. Small Business Saturday, held annually on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, was created to give these smaller enterprises a boost.

In Ellicott City, there are several locally owned businesses participating in the Nov. 24 event.

Here they are:

A Journey From Junk
3709 Old Columbia Pike, Ellicott City

• Free gift with purchase
• Buy two ornaments, get one free
• 20 percent off Linwood gently used clothing

Attic Antiques N Things
8241 Main Street, Ellicott City

• Buy one item, get the next 30 percent off

Classic Interiors
8345 Main Street, Ellicott City

• First 40 customers receive complimentary votive of Sweet Grace

Clayground Studio and Gallery
3715 Old Columbia Pike, Ellicott City

• $15 off any regularly priced pottery & mosaic classes (regularly $45)
• $45 off any regularly priced glass fusion class (regularly $95)

Clipper’s Canine Cafe
8407 Main Street, Ellicott City

• 20 percent off pet toys and beds
• $2 off Mini Thinkers and EOS treats
• $2 off Vital Essentials
• Buy two Feline Natural cat treats, get one free
• But two K9 Natural dog treats, get one free

EC Pops
8143 Main Street, Ellicott City

• Spend $50 and get a free Thymes Frasier Fir sachet
• Spend $75 and get a free Thymes Frasier Fir travel candle

EC Rising
8080 Main Street, Ellicott City

• Free EC holiday ornament with your purchase of $50+

Jaxon Edwin
8191 Main Street, Ellicott City

• Free bourbon tasting

Main St Rugs
8290 Main Street, Ellicott City

• Free small rug (2-by-3-feet) select rugs only, while supplies last
• Get 50 percent off a premium nonslip rug pad with 8-by-10-foot rug

Made on Main
8358 Main Street, Ellicott City

• Free gift with $25 purchase
• Jewelry making demonstrations

Ooh La La Salon
3711 Old Columbia Pike, Ellicott City

• 20 percent off all hair care products

Primitive Beginnings
8247 Main Street, Ellicott City

• 15 percent off storewide
• Refreshment

Sayre’s Eden Boutique
8249 Main Street, Ellicott City

• 20 percent off purchase

Southwest Connection

8173 Main St., Ellicott City

• 20 percent off Kachina dolls, crystal necklaces

Sweet Cascades Chocolatier
8197-A Main Street, Ellicott City

• Custom select your handmade truffles gift box

Sweet Elizabeth Jane
8125 Main St., Ellicott City

• Hot chocolate bar
• $5 gift certificate with every purchase to use on midnight madness
• More in-store specials

Sweet Suds Bath Boutique
8026 Main Street, Ellicott City

• Free Bath Salt Sundae with any $50 purchase.

Su Casa
8307 Main Street, Ellicott City

• Refreshments in newly expanded store

Welcome Center
8267 Main Street

• Public restroom available

Wine Bin
8390 Main Street, Ellicott City

• Wine & craft beer tastings
• $10 gift certificant with each $100 purchase

Judge’s Bench
8385 Main Street, Ellicott City

• Amuse Bouche Pop-Up (limited quantity); complimentary w/ select beers & drinks

Little Market Cafe
3731 Hamilton St.

• Soup and half sandwich lunch special

Syriana Cafe
8180 Main Street, Ellicott City

• 20 off your purchase
• Free specialty tea nad pastry bites

Dugoutzone
10226 Baltimore National Pike, Ellicott City

• 20 percent off all trading cards, gaming cards & supplies (club members get 30 percent off)
• 30 percent off all autographed memorabilia (club members get 40 percent off)
• 40 off all sports licensed goods (club members get 50 percent off)
• 50 percent off all in stock comic books (club members get 60 percent off)

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

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.”

— By Patch editors Beth Dalbey and Elizabeth Janney

File photo by Elizabeth Janney.