After Black Friday Comes Small Business Saturday

At a Nov. 14 Board of Selectmen meeting, Windham resident Derrick McManus said that he hopes to keep shoppers spending at small local businesses, keeping dollars in the community.

As McManus gets set to join the town's Economic Development Committee, that vision will be aided with the town's participation in Small Business Saturday, a national campaign which joined the likes of Black Friday and Cyber Monday in 2010. Windham's participation in the Nov. 26 event will occur at the Village Green Plaza.

McManus' wife France is the owner of A Simply Wholesome Life, an all-natural and organic market in the plaza. Their business along with five others will be participating in the event.

According to the website for A Simply Wholesome Life, the company supports local businesses by purchasing as much local products as possible. They refer to themselves as a "customer focused market," featuring local vendors from Derry, Londonderry, Litchfield, Sandown, Bedford, Hudson and right in Windham.

A flyer released for the celebration said that $100 spent at local businesses in Windham brings back $68 to the community. For McManus, people need to be targeting the buy local movement and he wants to expand that notion.

"When you spend money at my store, most of it stays in this town," said McManus. "When you spend money at CVS, most of it goes out of this town."

McManus has been a resident of Windham for 35 years, and said that he has seen a lot of different things happen as well as a lot of growth in town.

A Simply Wholesome Life is offering 15 to 20 percent off selected items from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. during the event.

The event flyer goes on to say that Artistic Creations Salon is also asking visitors to bring toys to their business, as they are serving as a Toys for Tots drop-off location beginning on Nov. 21. They will be joining Nault's Windham Motorcycles and Karate International of Windham as a collection center.

Below is the complete list of businesses and the discounts they will be offering during the event:

The national Small Business Saturday initiative is sponsored by American Express. The Facebook page for the event currently has over 2.1 million followers.