Shopping local this coming Small Business Saturday, November 27, a nice shot in the arm
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Tony Gagliardi, Colorado State Director, [email protected],
or Tony Malandra, Senior Media Manager, [email protected]
DENVER, Nov. 22, 2021—The state’s leading small-business association today encouraged all Coloradans to reserve some of their holiday shopping time and money for Small Business Saturday, November 27, the day after Black Friday and two days before Cyber Monday.
“Shopping small is a good thing to do all year round, and this Saturday is a good reminder why,” said Tony Gagliardi, Colorado state director for the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), America’s largest small-business association.
“It’s a great time to reacquaint yourself with the small businesses around you, the owners who gave most of us our first jobs, and your neighbors whom you might run into. This is a grim time for small businesses, so, as never before, every little bit helps. If your local small businesses can ring up just a tiny bit more in sales, that could be the margin of difference between staying open for business or having to close up shop for good, the margin of difference between being able to keep an employee or having to let him or her go.”
Gagliardi detailed some of the struggles small-business owners are facing that they haven’t in the past:
- In its latest Jobs Report, released this month, NFIB recorded 49% of its membership reporting job openings they could not fill despite the record high in pay they were offering.
- Also this month, NFIB released the latest findings of its special COVID-19 polls showing 62% of small-business owners saying supply-chain disruptions are worse now than three months ago and 90% expecting the problem to continue for the next five months or longer.
- Equally troubling, NFIB’s Small Business Economic Trends report found the percentage of small-business owners expecting better business conditions falling four points to a net negative 37%. This indicator has declined 17 points over the past three months to its lowest level since November 2012.
- As U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said at a recent Fed Listens session. “I’ve never seen these kinds of supply-chain issues, never seen an economy that combines drastic labor shortages with lots of unemployed people.”
“I will once again thank Gov. Jared Polis for using some of Colorado’s federal money to pay down the loans the state took out to shore up its unemployment insurance trust fund, thereby sparing small-business owners a big worry over having to pay skyrocketing UI taxes,” said Gagliardi. “Now, if we can see some record sales on Saturday, we might open 2022 with a brighter economic outlook for Colorado.”
Gagliardi will be available for comment on Small Business Saturday, 303-325-6243, [email protected],
Quick Facts
- Established during the recession by American Express in 2010 and officially co-sponsored by the U.S. Small Business Administration since 2011, fully 70% of consumers are now aware of Small Business Saturday, according to a 2019 Small Business Saturday Consumer Insights Survey by AMEX and NFIB.
- Shoppers at independent retailers and restaurants that day in 2019 spent an estimated $19.6 billion—but that was pre-pandemic.
- In 2020, when some thought the 2019 numbers couldn’t be matched, spending actually increased to $19.8 billion. “Many small businesses pivoted to selling online or through social media platforms to stay connected with customers throughout the pandemic, and these efforts appear to have paid off, with 56% of Small Business Saturday shoppers reporting they shopped online with a small business on the day, an increase from 43% in 2019,” reported AMEX. “In addition, small business owners rolled out a variety of giveaways and special offerings to consumers, a smart strategy as 43% of consumers reported that they took advantage of special offers or promotions from small businesses on the day.”
- Last week, the research firm Morning Consult found, “Almost 4 in 10 U.S. consumers say they will do the majority of their holiday shopping online: Another 36% plan to evenly split their holiday shopping between stores and online. Only 1 in 4 consumers will do the majority of their holiday shopping in stores.
- “About 50% of those who have started shopping have faced supply chain issues. These include items being out of stock online (48%), in store (48%) or back-ordered or delayed (46%).”
Keep up with the latest Colorado small-business news at www.nfib.com/colorado or by following NFIB on Twitter @NFIB_CO or on Facebook @NFIB.CO
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For 78 years, NFIB has been advocating on behalf of America’s small and independent business owners, both in Washington, D.C., and in all 50 state capitals. NFIB is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, and member-driven association. Since its founding in 1943, NFIB has been exclusively dedicated to small and independent businesses and remains so today. For more information, please visit nfib.com.
NFIB Colorado
1700 Lincoln Street, 17th Floor
Denver, CO 80203
303-860-1778
www.nfib.com/colorado
Twitter: @NFIB_CO
Facebook: NFIB.CO
