Small Business Saturday: Best Cities To Shop In Metro Detroit

MICHIGAN — The Mitten is a great place to be when it comes to supporting local for the holidays and this weekend has kicked off the start of the holiday season. With that comes Small Business Saturday.

Small Business Saturday is the annual holiday shopping tradition that encourages communities to patronize brick and mortar businesses that are small and local. With giant shopping holidays like Black Friday and Cyber Monday ruled by the big guys, Small Business Saturday is a great way to give back to the local community.

Cities ranked as shopping destinations

A new report showed Michigan has three cities listed in the nation’s 50 best cities for small businesses, just in time for Small Business Saturday: Southfield, Rochester Hills and Novi.

Verizon Business has just produced its "Best Small Cities to Start a Small Business Report" and three Michigan cities made the list, putting Michigan in the top 16% in the nation.

Two of Michigan’s cities made the top 10: Southfield came in at No. 4 in the nation and Rochester Hills at No. 8. Novi was ranked No. 36 on the report.

Here’s what they said about the cities:

Southfield, Michigan
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that as part of the Detroit metro area, Southfield’s economy benefits from the automotive industry. Beyond that, however, is ample opportunity for small businesses to grow like crazy. And they certainly are—business owners in Southfield are benefitting from a work travel time of less than half an hour and a respectable amount of education (approximately 37% of the population has bachelor’s degrees). And finding a niche among rolled steel manufacturers and auto products isn’t as hard as it may seem.

Rochester Hills, Michigan
What does Rochester Hills have in common with Southfield? Commute time, population, and their big brother city, Detroit. Something this city can claim that Southfield can’t? It’s the hometown of Madonna. Checkmate. If that’s not enough to back up how legit this place is, then how about over half the population sporting bachelor’s degrees? Or perhaps the highest income per capita out of the top 10? Or the beautiful lakes that surround the state? No? We get it. Madonna’s more than enough.

Read the full report here.

Other cities to shop in

Metro Detroit has plenty of downtown shopping destinations within its communities. Here's a look at what three of them have planned Saturday:

Royal Oak

Royal Oak will transform a downtown alleyway into a family-friendly event complete with everyone's favorite guest this time of year: Santa. Read all about that event here.

Among the many perks of Small Business Saturday in Royal Oak, parking downtown will be free. They also have a ridesharing program going on. Read more about the incentives in Royal Oak here.

Dearborn

With not one, but two downtowns, Dearborn has a variety of places to shop. With that in mind, the city runs a fun passport program to reward frequent shoppers. Check out the details here.

Rochester

Downtown Rochester is known to be a magical place this time of year. Their Small Business Saturday celebration includes horse-drawn carriage rides and, of course, lots of lights. Read about their Small Business Saturday festivities here.

Which cities do you recommend for shopping local? Chime in below.

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