On Small Business Saturday, there’s no need to get up at the crack of dawn.
There’s no rush, no throngs of people hopped up on sugar and caffeine or dulled by tryptophan traces still lingering from dinner – or some unholy combination of the two — and there aren’t so-called markdowns that really aren’t, especially when you see the Cyber Monday deals. In Hobart, where the Chamber of Commerce and Hobart Downtown Alliance joined forces for the November 30 shopping day, you even got to play Bingo by getting a card and winning a gift basket if you stopped at all the businesses listed on it.
It’s a way more mellow vibe, and one in which the business owners can show what they do best: provide service, like Heidi Morgan of Belle Ami Boutique. Between Saturday and “Pink Friday,” she’s been having the time of her life this shopping season.
“’Pink Friday’ is something boutique owners do to get ahead of Black Friday,” said Morgan, who’s been in her brick-and-mortar shop for three years. “(Pink Friday) is probably going to take some time to catch on, but in the boutique world, it’s huge. And Hobart is finally growing (with small shops), and people are really wanting to be here — which is great for me since I like to help people.”
And by “help,” she means dole out some gentle-but-firm advice.
“Sometimes I have to force people to try something on that they’re like, ‘I don’t know, I don’t think I’m going to like this,’ and then they put it on and are amazed at how great they look,” she said.
Kristine Jewett, of Hobart, found just what she was looking for at The Hydrangea House downtown: a wooden owl, which she got to complement the owl family of five she had living in the tree outside her house this summer. She doubts she’d find something as perfect in a big-box store, but then she’d also not take that chance, either.
“Black Friday is too people-y, and why would I want to buy mass-produced (stuff),” Jewett said. “I prefer unique items, so I try to buy as much as I can from smaller stores.”
Hydrangea House owner Sue King agreed.
“We have vendors here that aren’t like other places,” she said.
Tom Lounges, who owns Tom Lounges’ Record Bin and has been in Hobart for seven years, participated in both Black Friday and Small Business Saturday this year to what he hoped would be great success. He got a lot of work done in the down time, he said.
“When we opened at midnight, we had seven people waiting at the door. Then we had another rush at 6 a.m. and a smaller one at 8:30 a.m.,” he said. “It wasn’t phenomenal – this whole year really hasn’t been – but it was better than we expected.”
While he likes the idea of Small Business Saturday, he feels like there isn’t as much of an appetite for it as there used to be.
“When we started, the first year we were here, we got all kinds of promotional material from American Express (which co-founded Small Business Saturday in 2010) pushing the idea. This year, they sent one sticker promoting it, and last year we got nothing,” he said. “I’m glad the Hobart Downtown Alliance did a good job of promoting it, though.”
Amy Kalinowski, of Hobart, enjoyed the effort regardless.
“It’s a good way to get people out and support the (city). There are stores here that I didn’t even know about, and I live right down the street,” she said.
Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
