Small Business Saturday Urges Shoppers to Shop Local

If you're a small business, it's hard to compete with big retail, especially on the biggest shopping weekend of the year.

Cheryl Laird Humphrey, owner of the in downtown Waukee, agrees.

"We compete with online shopping, the malls, larger stores. It's tough," she said of the post-Thanksgiving shopping rush. "As an individual business owner, we can't buy deep enough to give customers the kinds of discounts they get at those stores."

Laird Humphrey and other local business owners will hopefully get a boost this year from a promotion sponsored by American Express called Small Business Saturday. Forget Black Friday or even Cyber Monday, Small Business Saturday, held Nov. 26, aims at supporting small business and urges shoppers to shop local.

This is the second year in a row American Express and a growing list of other big businesses has backed Small Business Saturday. Marketed primarily through Facebook, the promotion encourages shoppers who are already out scooping up holiday buys, to remember the little businesses, too.

"We encourage people to shop our community year-round," said Rod West, president of the . "In Waukee, this weekend should be no different. I think something like this (Small Business Saturday) is just another reminder that people should shop local."

West said there are huge benefits to shopping in Waukee.

"Why fight all the mess when you can just go down the street and get all you need and not have all the heartache in the process?," said West. "I certainly don't like to get out in it at this time of year. I'd just assume shop with folks I know, like and trust."

Laird Humphrey said small business like the Pin Oak Gallery can do what most big retailers can't - provide better customer service and more personalized attention.

"We're very service-oriented," she said. "We offer complimentary gourmet coffee, complimentary gift wrap, we have in-house layaway, we let clients take items out of the store on approval and return them - it's really all about relationships."

Tim Rundlett, manager at in Waukee, said that personalized touch is something his customers come back to the store for year after year.

"We enjoy talking to folks and socializing with them," he said. "It's a more relaxed atmosphere here. It's kind of comical, I keep records of what everybody buys so that when they call me looking for the same Christmas tree they bought last year I can just look and say, 'Ok, Frazier Fir, fat and full, we'll have that delivered on Dec. 2. That's personalized service. You can't get that at Lowe's or or Menards."

Rundlett said he hopes the Small Business Saturday push brings customers to the store this weekend. If not, that's ok. Next weekend is really where it's at at Earl May.

"It's been busy today," he said, Friday. "People have been out in the killer rush and then stopped in to get their tree and go home to relax. But our big rush will be next weekend. That's when the big preparation starts. That's when things will get crazy around here."