Photo by Erin Nelson.
The Cook Store owner Wesley Lassen, right, speaks with customer Katie Patrick about an item inside her shop in Mountain Brook Village. The Mountain Brook City Council and Mayor Stewart Welch III have declared Nov. 28, 2020, to be Small Business Saturday, part of an annual national shopping holiday.
It is important for communities to support their small businesses, including retailers and restaurants.
That is the driving force behind Small Business Saturday, an annual unofficial holiday that encourages shoppers across the country to spend their money with local businesses at the beginning of the Christmas season.
Small Business Saturday takes place each year on the Saturday following Thanksgiving and began in 2010 as a campaign launched by American Express. This year the event occurs on Nov. 28.
The Mountain Brook City Council — at its regular meeting for Monday, Nov. 19 — unanimously passed a proclamation from Mayor Stewart Welch III declaring Nov. 28 to be Small Business Saturday in the city.
The city of Mountain Brook “celebrates its local small businesses and the contributions they make to the local economy and community,” the proclamation reads.
The proclamation, citing the U.S. Small Business Administration, also included numerous statistics showing the importance of small businesses to the nation’s economy.
For example, small businesses are responsible for nearly 65% of the net new jobs created in the United States from 2000 to 2018. Small businesses also employ about 47% of the people working in the private sector in America.
The proclamation also cites some statistics about the impact of Small Business Saturday.
Of the consumers who plan to shop on Small Business Saturday, 96% of them say they are inspired by the holiday to patronize small, independently owned retailers or restaurants that they have not visited before or would not have otherwise visited.
In addition, 92% of the merchants taking part in Small Business Saturday said that the day helps their businesses stand out during the busy holiday shopping season.
Especially during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Mountain Brook city officials have expressed the importance of shoppers supporting locally owned establishments, including the retailers and restaurants in the villages.
“If there was ever a time when we need to support our businesses it would be now,” Welch said earlier this year.
To learn more about Small Business Saturday, go to Facebook @smallbusinesssaturday.
