Local shops thrive on Small Business Saturday

WASILLA — The annual retail holiday Small Business Saturday drew noticeably substantial crowds of people driving, walking, browsing, and spending around Palmer and Wasilla, the two major shopping centers of the Mat-Su Valley.

Practically every small business owner with or without their own brick and mortar store participated during this year’s Small Business Saturday, many of them supporting each other throughout the day. According to assistant manager of Just Imagine Toys in Wasilla, Heidi Scheie, collaboration is one of the staples of SBS each year.

“You get better results if you band together,” Heidi said.

Heidi has worked alongside her mother and Just Imagine Toys owner, Mary Scheie, for several years. Heidi said that this year’s SBS has been one of their biggest events to date and it continues to grow each year. She said that more than 200 people showed up.

“It was madness,” Heidi said with a laugh.

Mary said that customers were able to grab free donuts from Donut King and coffee from the Kaladi Brothers. This partnership has been a regular part of their SBS events over the years. But one of their newest additions seems to keep pulling more people in, the presence of a Christmas icon.

Mary said this is their second year featuring Santa Claus and one of his reindeer, courtesy of the Reindeer Farm and they spent time with children and their families down the aisle of the Carrs/Safeway Mall at Forget Me Not Framing.

“I guess we better [bring him back]. People keep asking about Santa,” Heidi said.

Mary said that Black Friday sales performed fairly well this year but SBS greatly outperformed it. She said that their focus is further cementing on SBS instead and they will not open early for Black Friday next year.

Mary said that SBS is one of the biggest sales days of the year, while Dec. 22, the Saturday before Christmas is usually the top sales day. She said that this SBS trend is picking up momentum, not just at her store.

“It gets bigger every year and you can see it all around,” Mary said.

The downtown district of Palmer bustled with activity as most of the streets were lined with parked vehicles and wave after wave of people casually strolled about. Shoppers circulated in and out of several brick and mortar stores like the Whimsy Gift Shop and Stamp Cache.

People also poured into the Palmer Train Depot for a special SBS themed Matanuska Marketplace shopping event, which featured an array of small business owners, many of them without their own physical location but frequent events like this throughout the year.

Crafty old lady

Betty Anne Scheeler and her longtime friend, Lucie Manka make up the Jalapeno Gals duo, selling a variety of jalapeno based products like candied jalapenos and jalapeno jellies. Manka said that they sold every last can of their jalapeno jellies.

“It’s been a great show for us,” Manka said.

Scheeler owns the Crafty Old Lady, which offers eclectic, handmade items like clothes, pins and other crafts. She said that she started the Jalapeno Gals with Manka earlier this spring, partnering with Manke, whom she’s known for over 52 years.

“We practically grew up together,” Scheeler said.

Scheeler said that she knew about 90 percent of the vendors present that day. She said that Manka, herself and most of those vendors regularly attended Cob Street Market owner, Andrea Fuller’s monthly Saturday market and this SBS event.

One of Scheeler’s crafty friends approached her at the market, offering her an ornament that she made from a mason jar, wire, jewelry and rope. The two hugged and said they were glad each other.

“Us vendors tend to share stuff," Scheeler said.

Deer Creek Candle Co. owner, Michaele Hannam was just a few feet away from the Jalapeno Gals.

“Lucy and Betty sold out of their jalapeno jelly. I was just tickled for them. They were just so excited,” Hannam said.

Hannam said that she didn’t really like Black Friday and favored what SBS represented in her community. She said that she respected the creative process and the hand on craft and final product amongst these various artesians.

“I’ve always believed in supporting the little guy, always,” Hannam said. "You go to Target, Fred Meyer Walmart and it's all made out of ticky-tacky, and it all looks the same to me.”

Hannam said that she didn't like big crowds. She said that the growing Black Friday trend of mass-produced products was unsettling and she couldn't think of anything worth the trouble to show up Thanksgiving Day or at the crack of dawn the day after for Black Friday discounts.

“It’s an interesting commentary on our consumer society,” Hannam said.

Fly Away North owner Cole Harmon sat near the front of the vendor gauntlet inside the depot, spinning thread on his wooden spinning wheel in front of an array of colorful spools.

“It’s a labor of love,” Harmon said.

Harmon said that although this particularly wheel wasn’t the family wheel, this skill has been passed down for several generations. He said that he learned from his family and several other members of the community.

“I wouldn’t be here without amazing mentorship from various people around the Valley,” Harmon said.

Contact Mat-Su Valley reporter, Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com