Small Business Saturday returning to Bluefield WV with raffle, youth vendors, and Intuit open house
Local businesses encourage people to come to Bluefield WV on November 25th.
BLUEFIELD, W. Va. (WVVA) -Thanksgiving is almost a week away, but you may be looking forward to what comes after: Black Friday. But if you would like to use your Christmas shopping to help the local economy, you may want to see what comes after Black Friday: Small Business Saturday.
Small Business Saturday will soon be returning to Bluefield, West Virginia. Jim Spencer, the executive director for Bluefield, West Virginia’s Economic Development Authority says many of the shops in the area rely on this holiday, with some having their best sales day on that Saturday.
“...Small business is the backbone of any local economy. And so, you know, yes, it’s nice to attract Omnis and Intuit and things like that, and it’s good, but we need to support our local business. And so, a lot of times, Black Friday is where the big major retail gets supported through Walmart and other things like this, but this is a day specifically for small business,” says Spencer.
Economic Development Authority have been participating in Small Business Saturday since 2015. This year, they hope to make it even bigger than previous years. Some of the small businesses in Bluefield are participating in a raffle. A purchase from one of these stores will enter you in for a chance to win a variety of prizes, one being fifty-two Chick-fil-A meals. Debrah Ammar, the owner of Magnolia on Jefferson, one of the participating businesses (which is also providing one of the prizes) says, by helping local stores, you are helping the economy of the entire area.
“The small businesses in our community rely on the community and the people of the community and surrounding areas to come out, support us rather than going out of town and doing their shopping because our taxes help keep the community, help keep our city going, and every little bit helps,” says Ammar.
Returning to the Small Business celebration this year are the Pop-Up Shop Vendors in Clover Club which will feature local merchants without brick-and-mortar stores. New for this year’s Small Business Saturday, kids will be able to get in on the commercial action. There will be a “Youth Pop-Up Shop” just for them at the Craft Memorial Library. Spencer says he got the idea after meeting one of these young entrepreneurs.
“I was talking to a young girl this year back in the summer. She’s ten years old. And she really didn’t know who I was, but she said... ‘Sir, can I tell you about my business.’ And I said, ‘Well, yes, you can.’ And she was making bracelets and we started talking about it and just through the communication with her, it gave me the idea of this year, to add Pop-Up Retail for our school-age children,” says Spencer.
Whether you are there to support the local economy, encourage young people to go into business, or just get an early start on your Christmas shopping, those we spoke to encourage you to stop by Small Business Saturday.
Small Business Saturday will be held in Bluefield 10:00 am - 2:00 pm. Intuit will also be using that Saturday to showcase their facility with an open house. People will be able to see the offices and learn more about the job opportunities to be found there.
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