SYLVANIA, Ohio (WTVG) – Small Business Saturday is celebrated annually the day after Black Friday to encourage people to shop small.
“A lot of people come in specifically to support local,” said Fiddle Stix manager Pam Geiger.
“When you spend money at a big corporation, you have no idea what your money’s going to, but when you spend money locally it builds the community, and it helps the families that own those small businesses,” said Hip to the Groove Boutique co-owner, Lori Colenzo.
As consumers continue to turn to the internet for shopping though, local shops must do something to keep up, and ultimately stay in business.
“It’s so easy to shop on Amazon, everything is there, but if you really kind of slow down and think about it for minute, you can get everything you want right around the corner, usually, but I know it’s easy not to,” said Hip to the Groove Boutique co-owner Wendy Gericke.
The owners of Hip to the Groove Boutique in Sylvania tell 13abc that they’ve had to increase their online presence within the past two years, and even spent money on a brand new app to make things as convenient as possible for their customers.
“We did spend some funds last year to kind of upgrade our website,” said Gericke.
Geiger with Fiddle Stix says they too started focusing a lot more on their social media platforms.
“We do a lot more on social media now too because we just feel you have to meet people where they are,” Geiger said.
Both small business owners say they hope these changes boost this year’s holiday sales after an underwhelming in-person turnout Saturday.
“It’s been steady all day,” said Geiger.
“Comparatively to last year, a lot slower, but we understand,” Gericke said.
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