Most people know Black Friday as the biggest shopping day of the year, but not so many know about Small Business Saturday.
This year marked the second annual Small Business Saturday on Nov. 27, a day dedicated to supporting small businesses on one of the busiest shopping weekends of the year.
King Jewelers on Third Avenue had a profitable Small Business Saturday.
“Sales went really well (last) weekend,” said owner Dave Rossi. “We had customers all day long.”
Rossi estimates sales increased by 15 to 20 percent.
“We didn’t advertise or do anything, it was just business as usual,” he said. “We’ve been here since 1947 and people feel significant with an established business.”
Rossi said the store was also busy on Cyber Monday and they’re not even online.
“It was pretty entertaining because (customers) were supposedly shopping online but were still coming into the store,” he said.
Not all small business owners were as fortunate as Rossi this past Saturday.
South Bay Bicycles shop owner Steve Bandoian said he didn’t even know Small Business Saturday existed.
“We didn’t have any promotions going on but Friday we had a good turn out,” he said. “Saturday was mediocre.”
On Black Friday, the store increased sales by 20 percent from last year. He said their website is pretty fresh and attracts customers.
“We only hired one extra employee for this weekend because we were ready,” he said. “Sales actually went down on Saturday.”
SAS Shoes at Jon’s manager Mark Flesh also watched sales plunge.
“We didn’t even know it was Small Business Saturday,” he said. “We’ve been so focused on trying to get our customers back up.”
Flesh said the dangerous shootings and crime across the Mexican border have made it difficult for customers to come shop.
“The sales on Small Business Saturday were actually lower than usual,” he said. “There’s not much we can do other than pray and hope we get out of this recession.”
The Dollar Oasis on Bonita Road also saw a decline in sales.
“The sales on Saturday weren’t anything special,” said co-owner Karl Treziok. “We though it would be a big deal but it wasn’t.”
The store has only been open for four months and this Saturday was slower than usual with a 10 percent decrease in sales.
“Only the first person that came to the store in the morning mentioned it was Small Business Saturday,” Treziok said.
“We had intended for a bigger turnout.”
