10 Selfish Reasons to Shop Small Business Saturday
Thanksgiving - the day for gratitude and spending time with your people.
Black Friday - the day to put that gratitude on ice and buy as much shit as possible.
Small Business Saturday - a sort of middle ground between these two extremes. You get to buy stuff (perhaps for others) and help the local economy. So in reality, it's the best type of 'giving back' because it's beneficial to you. SCORE! Technically SBS happens every weekend but the day following Black Friday is the main show. There are 23 million small businesses in the country, so get out there!
SELFISH REASONS TO SHOP LOCAL
1- Get It Now
Don't get me wrong, I love shopping online. Whether it's Amazon or something else, it rules. Super easy, you don't have to talk to anyone and never have to wear pants. But you have to wait a few days to get your stuff in the mail, or it gets lost in the mail, or arrives all busted... But not if you shop local!
2- Make Your Community More Awesome
If you spend $100 at a local business, roughly $68 stays in your local economy. If you spend the same are a large business, only $43 stays in the local economy. So shop local... your community needs you and that feels pretty good.
3- Be a Local Hero
Instead of helping to line some CEO's pockets, you're helping a family pay their mortgage, buy their dog cute sweaters, and helping them live their dream. And dreams are good. So shop on, you hero.
4- Spur The Economy and Create Jobs
Waiting on government to do this is like waiting for paint to boil (or something)... it never happens. Instead, shop local and help peeps get jobs. Small businesses have created 8 million jobs since 1990. And franchised small businesses employ roughly 8 million people, and make up 40 % of all American retail jobs. So basically, shopping helps your friends get jobs. And you know who gives you discounts... friends!
5- Check Stuff Out and Try It On
Again, online shopping rules. But it's hard to determine how something will look on you when it's only shown on someone with proportions so 'perfect' God herself said "hot damn!" after creating. When you shop in a store (and for the sake of this article, a local one...) you get to check out your goods in the goods before purchasing. Also you can inspect whatever item your purchasing for defects, scratches, rips, tears, abnormalities and just general bad vibes.
6- Indirectly Donate to Non-Profits
Small businesses donate 250% more than larger businesses to non-profits and community causes.
7- No Shipping Charges
Whether or not you're one of those people who will spend an extra $17 to avoid paying a $7 shipping fee, or will scour the internet for free shipping promo codes, you understand the annoyance of shipping fees. Shop in a store (again... preferably local) and boom! no shipping charges.
8- Easy Returns
Buyers remorse over that weird thing you bought? No problem, just march your booty back up to that local store and return it. Because let's face it, having to repackage an item you don't want, print out a shipping label, AND take it to the post office is hell.
9- Unique and Weird Items
When you shop local you're more likely to find those "whoa! where'd you get that" items. Instead of carrying 5,000 units of an item, a small shop is more likely to sell unique or hand made items that you won't find anywhere else. In many cases you're supporting multiple people's dreams: the store owner and the artist who made the item.
10- More Likely to Know Employees (Score a deal!)
You may actually have a solid connection with the owner, manager, or that cute girl who works the cash register. Meaning, you might get a trip to discount city. ChaaaChing!