Small Business Saturday prime time for local retailers

MAT-SU — This weekend, small business owners all over the country are expecting to see a few more faces than usual at their stores, salons and restaurants — and that’s true here in the Mat-Su, too.

In 2010, American Express launched its first “Small Business Saturday” the day after “Black Friday,” the traditional first day of the Christmas shopping season so named because it’s the first Friday after Thanksgiving and one of the busiest shopping days of the year. Last year, according to its website, the nationwide campaign raked in an estimated $14.3 billion for small, independent businesses on the day.

Locally, Seastar Strategies owner Jeanette Gardiner is coordinating the event for the second year now. As a “neighborhood champion” (a title given by American Express), Gardiner has spent the last month or so jotting down participant names and equipping them with stickers, shopping bags and signs declaring the unofficial holiday and the reminder to #ShopSmall on Saturday, Nov. 28.

“One of the biggest challenges of small business owners is finding time to actually market and market effectively, so having one person to spearhead the effort … kind of.”

That act fits in perfectly with the goals of Gardiner’s own consulting business, which is to help small business owners like herself make time for everything they need to succeed.

Because if small business succeed, Gardiner said, so does the community.

“These small businesses are what make our community really special,” she said.

Gordon Fletcher, owner of Humdinger’s Pizza, seconded that, saying that Small Business Saturday is perfect for Palmer in particular, where “all we have is small business.”

“That’s Palmer’s bread and butter,” he said. “That’s one of the biggest reasons that I chose to come to Palmer.”

But Palmer’s not alone. Wasilla has its fair share of locally owned retailed outlets, too, including In-Fu-Sion Boutique, owned by Wasilla High graduate Ruth Villanueva.

Having opened up in Palmer, moved to Wasilla, and now preparing to open a second store back in Palmer on Evergreen Avenue, Villanueva has come to see the pros and cons of doing business in both locations over the last eight years. One challenge that is similar to both, she said — as well as other small businesses in the Mat-Su Valley — is the mindset that Anchorage has something better, especially in the clothing department.

“A lot of people, when they think of going on a shopping trip, it’s like, ‘Let’s go to Anchorage,’” Villanueva said.

Online shopping might be an even bigger threat. When it comes to a person’s wardrobe, Villanueva said she’s had plenty of customers come in, try something on, then go look for it on Amazon.com.

“There’s only so low that we can go because we don't get the kind of pricing that Amazon gets for buying high volume,” she said.

Sometimes, a customer will look an item up on their phone right in the store, compare prices, and ask for a cut rate. Sometimes, the boutique will grant it.

“A lot of times we will, so long as we have adequate, reliable information,” Villanueva said. “It’s worth taking the loss and keeping the business here.”

Customers aren’t just getting the product when they shop local, either, she said.

“There’s a certain feel in here and you can’t get that online. You’re paying for the ability to go into a pretty store, feel the clothes and see what you’re buying.”

Gardiner agreed that the service a customer gets in a physical store is irreplaceable. She said she herself appreciates being able to go into a business where the shop owner knows her and can suggest products based on her hobbies or a problem she may have.

“I don’t get that sense when I go into a big box store,” she said.

Gardiner acknowledged that the “sense” that people are looking for varies, but in small businesses it goes beyond a pleasant shopping atmosphere with opportunities to socialize.

Backcountry Bike and Ski owner Tony Berberich said his initial vision for the Palmer store was more of a community center than anything else.

“Not to hear all the gossip, but where people would be able to come and talk about bikes,” he said.

Berberich said he still envisions a future café-bike shop-pub combo to better facilitate that. He’s even closed the Wasilla shop temporarily in an effort to find a more suitable building or property for its clientele.

As for the sales side of things, Berberich said any competition with larger Anchorage stores or online platforms has been insignificant — probably because of the focus on hanging out over making an extra buck.

Berberich recalled one customer who guiltily told him he’d bought his bike from someone else.

“I was like, ‘Dude, I’m just glad you’re on a bike. I wish you would’ve bought from us, but I’m glad you got a bike somewhere.’”

Of course, one idea behind Small Business Saturday is to “shop small, shop local” to avoid the “combat shopping” of Black Friday, but there’s a bigger picture, Gardiner said.

“I think it’s important to shift everyone’s shopping thinking,” she said. “Small businesses need to be the first ones that come to mind.”

For a detailed list of Small Business Saturday participants, find SeaStar Strategies on Facebook or visit Jeanette Gardiner’s blog on seastarstrategies.com.

Contact reporter Caitlin Skvorc at 352-2266 or caitlin.skvorc@frontiersman.com.