Local businesses see a boom in shopping during Small Business Saturday

Black Friday was over but small businesses still had to deal with the boom of Small Business Saturday!

The holiday, created around the 2010 recession, encourages consumers to get out and shop at local stores across the nation. Including right here in the Northland.

“But it’s turned out to be one of the best Saturday of the holidays", says business owner Ed Barbo. His store, Ed Barbo’s Columbia clothing, was one of many stores that celebrated in Duluth.

And after a year of shut downs due to the pandemic business owners are happy to see consumers out and about again.

"We’ve been having crowds all day and seeing a lot of stuff go out, a lot of gifts going out so it’s been great to see people in the store”, says Trail Fitters manager Sam Brueggeman.

Sam says Trail Fitters saw people come in just for Small Business Saturday. He says, “You know a ton of people mention that that’s the reason why they are coming in, and that is to support local businesses. And we appreciate it so much."

And this year is a very impactful small business Saturday due to the past year’s circumstances. Over at AP Training in Duluth the owners of the training studio invited their fellow small business owners to set up tables their site.

Co-Owner Paige Stratioti says,"It’s important to recognize that a lot of businesses made it through the last couple years. It’s been tough. So Duluth is unique in the fact that we have a lot of local businesses. I think it makes it special and reminds us that it’s a cool place to be."

With the pandemic, business owners had to turn to the internet to survive but now that consumers are shopping in person there’s a sense of normalcy. Sam Brueggeman even suggests it’s better to shop in person saying, "That they’re able to nail it down a little bit more. Figure out the exact right thing for somebody. In person it’s just easier to just touch and feel something and get a right idea for that stuff."

Which is generating all the more excitement and support for local shops across the Northland.