Our Christmas Parade is this Saturday—and, after a Thanksgiving feast and football on Thursday, followed by a “shop till you drop” Friday, you’ll probably want to take some time out before heading to the parade later on Saturday. Here’s something you can do earlier on Saturday that can make a big difference—shop small.
The Saturday following Thanksgiving has become a retail holiday called Small Business Saturday. It was established several years ago by American Express, in partnership with the National Trust Historic Preservation, to direct consumer traffic into smaller businesses. While Black Friday has been given over to big-box stores and malls, and Cyber Monday (the following Monday) is for e-commerce, Small Business Saturday is for the time for you to think about the smaller independent retailers—so many of which are part of our downtowns.
The Ave has numerous smaller businesses that can serve you in your head-start on your holiday shopping. Previous columns and articles have been devoted to calling your attention to many of these businesses, as well as the retail clusters of which they’re a part. Whether it’s jewelry, wearing apparel, electronics, collectibles, antiques, crafts, recordings, furniture, books, or a wide assortment of other items, you can find them right on The Ave. For a list of retail stores on The Ave, go to our website theave.biz.
The nice thing about shopping small is that you’re helping out in several ways. You’re helping out smaller retailers—your friends and neighbors—who have struggled during the economic hard times the past couple of years. They give you the personal treatment that you often don’t get in the bigger stores. You’re a name and not just another generic customer. You also can avoid the traffic, long lines, and hustle-and-bustle of the big box stores and the malls. A downtown is the core of a city and this is a great way of making our downtown—The Ave—your destination.
So, head down to The Ave early this Saturday and think big by shopping small.
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Our Main Street Vineland Christmas Parade is coming up on Saturday, November 26, starting at 5 p.m., with the rain date the following day at the same time. The parade’s theme will be “A Firefighter’s Christmas.” Main Street Vineland will be honoring the City of Vineland’s fire department as it celebrates its 150th anniversary. The major sponsor will be Friends of Michael Testa Jr. for State Senate and Newfield National Bank will be a supporting sponsor.
A friendly reminder that, if you and your loved one are planning on tying the knot, you won’t want to miss our Weddings on The Ave promotion, sponsored by Al’s Shoes, taking place all this month. I mentioned last week all the wedding-related businesses on The Ave that are ready and willing to help you make that special day even more special. Check out the promotion and make The Ave your destination for all those needs—especially on Small Business Saturday. n
For more on Main Street Vineland, call our office at 856-794-8653, visit TheAve.biz—or check us out on Facebook. You can also e-mail me at [email protected].
