Social media shapes small business at Logan Square in holiday seasons and beyond

When Makai Walker was scrolling through Instagram in September, a bright, last-minute callout for a Halloween fashion show from Vintage Frills stopped him mid-swipe. He didn’t know the store, but the post — part costume party, part casting notice — was too tempting to ignore. He applied, joined the teachers-versus-students runway at the Logan Square Farmers Market, and was hooked, soon accepting a job at the store as an official staff.

“I just became aware of the store in September,” Walker said. “I would have never found this place without social media.”

As Logan Square heads into the packed holiday season, small businesses across the neighborhood are relying on this kind of digital moment. With social media now driving purchasing decisions more than traditional ads, local shop owners say platforms like Instagram, TikTok and YouTube have become essential to visibility and are now part of a growing trend.

Nationally, 73% of shoppers plan to contact brands through social media this holiday season, and it is the No. 1 source of gift inspiration for Gen Z and Millennials, according to Sprout Social, a technology company that runs a social media management platform.

“It’s so important,” said Jennifer Kelly, the owner of Vintage Frills. “I don’t know where I would be without it.”

Kelly said TikTok brings fast results for her business: after posting or collaborating with an influencer, customers often show up the very next day saying they found the shop on the app.

“I see the results, like how (social media) affects your business in a good way,” she said. “So I’m definitely involved in all of it. I’m trying to figure it out.”

Walker, 24, a former social media content-creator, said even quick, casual videos help for businesses. Before joining Vintage Frills, he spent time creating videos for brands on YouTube and Instagram. As he helps film quick Reels outside the storefront, he sees how easily certain items can stand out online — even something as small as a pink vintage point-and-shoot camera he recently discovered and adored on the shelf — since pieces like that might go overlooked in person. Social media gives them a second life through a single clip or carousel.

Nilda Esparza, Logan Square Chamber of Commerce executive director, said neighborhood shops now share a collective digital ecosystem.

“It’s very interconnected,” she said. “Everyone connects to it the easiest: Instagram’s always coming up with new features, so people take advantage of that — like when the collaboration feature came on, people started collaborating more.”

Esparza said the Chamber offered a social media workshop about a year ago before the holiday season, inviting a trainer to walk business owners through strategies for reels, seasonal campaigns and ways to boost views. The sessions were “very informative,” she said, but many Logan Square businesses are already so “tech-savvy,” they often run with ideas on their own.

Kelly noted Vintage Frills isn’t the only shop gearing up for the season on social media. Lost Girls, a nearby vintage store, is organizing a Holiday Bingo event for the neighborhood, and Kelly said its annual participation in the Cocoa Crawl, an event that brings in a long list of Logan Square and Avondale businesses, usually earns great media attention.

For herself, Kelly said she plans to rely on Instagram for the store’s Friendsgiving campaign this season — “each ‘friend’ you bring gets 10% off” — along with a YouTube small-business feature sponsored by Business Insider set to air later this month.

At Blazed Bakery, co-owner Abid Ashiqali said Instagram is one of their most effective ways to spread the word about the bakery’s weekly events, and he enjoys experimenting with how each post looks. He often asks different people for feedback and says he always gets helpful perspectives that make the page more accessible and easier to navigate.

He keeps a close eye on the bakery’s presence across the internet, where feedback often shapes his next move.

“Look at my Google reviews,” Ashiqali said. “It’s five out of five… and it’s not just a review. It’s reviews with comments.”

Esparza said possessing the “bandwidth to constantly post” is the biggest challenge because maintaining a consistent presence is almost a second job. Even the chamber’s own social media director splits time between digital content and event planning, a balance Esparza said most owners understand well.

But despite the pressure, the neighborhood’s businesses keep creating.
“I think everyone’s trying to figure out the algorithm, like what’s going to work, what’s not,” Kelly said. “It’s always a learning thing, but if you’re in business and you don’t have it, good luck, boo... That’s all I can say.”