Will Coloradans rally to help their local merchants and their employees survive?
DENVER, Nov. 24, 2020—Unlike last year’s Small Business Saturday event, this year’s will set no record for sales. The only measurement, and not a small one, to come out of Saturday, November 28’s activity will be to see how many of Colorado’s remaining small businesses can make it through to the end of the year.
“Buy! Shop as you’ve never shopped before from your Main Street businesses,” said Tony Gagliardi, Colorado state director for NFIB, the nation and state’s leading small-business association. “Our country’s Main Street enterprises have their backs to the wall, and it is up to us to rally to their defense. According to research from Yelp, 60 percent of closed businesses will remain permanently closed. That should alarm everyone. If everyone buys online from a big retailer, we’ve sealed the fate of small businesses everywhere, the small businesses that gave most of us our first job, the small businesses that employ our friends, family, and neighbors, the small businesses that will take a chance on employing someone who couldn’t get past the lobby of a large corporation. A lot is at stake. Will we rise to the challenge?”
Gagliardi recommended five things everyone can do to help:
- Check to see if local small businesses are open to in-person shopping, and pay them a visit if you feel comfortable (following applicable safety requirements, of course)
- Call your favorite local merchants to place an order for curbside pickup or delivery
- See if local small businesses are selling online by visiting their social media pages or websites
- Buy gift cards/certificates from local small businesses for yourself or as gifts to others
- Order takeout or delivery from local restaurants, either directly or through your favorite mobile app
Last year, Small Business Saturday eclipsed Black Friday and Cyber Monday in sales. While that is less likely to happen this year, making a special effort to support local merchants may be what keeps them in business this holiday season and into the New Year.
Background
Begun by American Express in 2010 to spur small businesses out of the recession, the annual Small Business Saturday event has been a great financial boon for Main Street enterprises. According to the 2019 Small Business Saturday Consumer Insights Survey from American Express and NFIB and figures from Adobe Analytics, Small Business Saturday outperformed both Black Friday ($5.4 billion) and Cyber Monday ($9.2 billion).
Contact: Tony Gagliardi, Colorado State Director, [email protected],
or Tony Malandra, Senior Media Manager, [email protected]
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 more than 77 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
