Jackson Free Press

Small Business Saturday, a national event dedicated to small businesses, will take place on Saturday, Nov. 27.

For the last month, signs across Ridgeland and other locations have been promoting the coming of Small Business Saturday in the area, a day that encourages people to buy from locally owned businesses.

American Express launched Small Business Saturday in 2009 in partnership with the nonprofit National Trust for Historic Preservation, Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino and Roslindale Village Main Street in Roslindale, Mass. The event takes place on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, between Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Following the event's success in the United States, the United Kingdom launched its own Small Business Saturday in 2013.

While Black Friday and Cyber Monday tend to be focused on big box retail chains in large cities, Small Business Saturday aims to encourage holiday shoppers to patronize small, local brick and mortar businesses.

"Small Business Saturday will be a great opportunity for Jackson to open up after all the problems of COVID-19 and help out our small businesses," Yolanda Clay-Moore, communications manager for Visit Jackson, says. "If people can spend just $10 in a small business, it can go a long way to helping the local economy. The event also serves as sort of an open house for small businesses in the area, with a lot of t-shirt shops, bakeries and restaurants in places like Fondren taking part."

Jackson's Fondren neighborhood, Highland Village Shopping Center (Interstate 55 N. Frontage Road, Suite 281), The District at Eastover (1250 Eastover Drive), The JXN Flea at the Ecoshed (133 Commerce Park Drive, Suite 01) and Canton Mart Square (1491 Canton Mart Road) are hotspots for shoppers to patronize small businesses and local restaurants in the capital city for the event, Clay-Moore says.

"These businesses have been through so much during the pandemic, and for those that have remained open it's important for locals to support them on this day and every day," Clay-Moore says. "Supporting small businesses is key for supporting the economy. Without the mom-and-pop shops that know their customers by name, all we'd have are the big corporate businesses. These small brick-and-mortar stores are also great places to find unique items you might only see in one particular shop, or discover a recipe that's only been passed down in one particular family."

Today, there are more than 32.5 million small businesses in the United States, the U.S. Small Business Administration reports. In 2020, reported projected spending among U.S. consumers at independent retailers and restaurants on Small Business Saturday reached an estimated $19.8 billion.

For more information on Small Business Saturday, visit sba.gov/saturday.