Small Business Saturday a big hit for St. Armands shops

Shoppers strolled in the sunshine around St. Armands Circle on Small Business Saturday, Black Friday's less frenzied, more camaraderie-filled cousin.

Typically, Saturdays are busy at the Circle, but on the heels of the traditional busiest shopping day of the year,  many local businesses enjoyed a business-filled Saturday. 

“I think it’s been good for everybody, (because) I’ve been seeing a lot of shopping bags carried around,” St. Armands Antiques and Gifts owner Aimee Carlson said. 

Carlson, whose shop is on Fillmore Drive, saw customers come in waves, and more on Small Business Saturday in 2020 than in previous years. Normally, she doesn’t do a lot of discounts but on Saturday, she was offering some buy-one-get-one sales and other deals.

“I just want to show my appreciation,” Carlson said. “Everyone is making an effort to help each other out and the best way to show my appreciation and give them a discount.”

Ancient Olive manager Debbie Slifer said deals can’t happen all the time. Luckily, the frenzy of Black Friday gets people into more of a spending mood. 

“Whoever came up with Small Business Saturday the day after Black Friday was a genius,” Slifer said. 

Participating businesses posted heart-shaped signs in their windows courtesy of American Express. Many stores opened their doors wide and had hand sanitizer and reminders to wear masks posted at their entrances, to help alleviate COVID-19 concerns. 

On the Circle, Just/Because co-owners and sisters Barbara Pugliese and Marie Cohen are champions of the event and made sure everyone who wanted to participate got the signs they needed. The sisters are passionate about keeping business local and encourage their customers to shop local all year long. Sales at local businesses keep about 68% of the money generated within the community, as opposed to about 43% from non-local businesses, according to a Better Business Bureau article on "Medium." 

“When we get a sale, we do a happy dance,” Pugliese said. “The big box stores don’t do that.” 

Pugliese and Cohen said they heard from a lot of customers who were coming in specifically to support local businesses on Small Business Saturday in the wake of a tough year for many businesses with the pandemic. Luckily, they see more Small Business Saturday supporters every year and are hopeful for a good holiday season — a few steps in the right direction. 

“We have to have Small Business Saturday,” Pugliese said. “We should be shopping small all the time but people are aware to do it at this time of year and every year people become more aware.”