Small Business Saturday: A Success On Main Street

Black Friday, has always been the traditional kickoff to the holiday shopping season, but this year's Small Business Saturday, sponsored by American Express, made quite a positive impression on sales in Sayville, according to the buzz around town from local shop owners.

The overall consensus was that Small Business Saturday played a major part in contributing to the success of the entire weekend in Sayville.

Jen Gross, owner of Flourish/Gabby’s Closet, was pleasantly surprised by the amount of traffic coming into her store as compared to last year.

“I did notice we had the parade in the morning which usually I find the town kind of clears after that and then they come back for Miracle on Main that night, but I think that with the weather and the AmEx (promotion) people stayed all day," she said. "We had steady traffic the entire day. It just kept going until 9:00 at night."

Most shops agreed that the mild weather and town events helped bring in the crowds.

“Sales for Saturday were up," said Brendan Barrett, co-owner of Sayville Running Company. "Two things probably helped us that day. Miracle on Main Street was definitely a big help. We had a lot of people come into town and walking through the store and also the AmEx promotion. The $25 AmEx credit for Small Business Saturday was also a help. It was a busy weekend for us but a fun one."

Lynn Rhodes, owner of Past and Presents, also reported an increase in sales over last year. She saw many customers in Sayville showing their support by shopping local small businesses.  

“All the customers who came in made a point of mentioning how important shopping in small stores is to them and how much they enjoy it and I thought it was nice they actually went out of their way to make sure that we knew that," she said. 

Rhodes also believes that with the state of the economy right now, more and more people want to show support to their hometown. “I think that they just need that comfort right now with the economy being so bad and they kind of need that comfort of a small town,” she said.

Most stores used social media to promote their business over the weekend and to inform customers about sales, specials and the benefits of shopping Small Business Saturday.

DonnaLee Gray, manager of Kay Cameron Jewelers, promoted their business via Facebook. “It was fantastic. It was a good start to the holiday. We had done a lot of social networking and it was perfect,” Gray said.

Natalie Orellana, public relations manager for Ooh La La, used both Facebook and Twitter.

“We put out a flyer on our Facebook and Twitter. Sales were really good. A lot of people were using their AmEx cards and it was an incentive for people to shop. We gave away a free gift with every purchase using their American Express card. It was super busy throughout all of our stores,” Orellana said.