Small Business Saturday declared successful
American Express declared Small Business Saturday 2015 a success.
In a statement released Monday with the National Federation of Independent Businesses, the credit card giant said more than 95 million consumers shopped at U.S. small businesses on Small Business Saturday, an 8 percent increase from 2014.
Furthermore, the statement said, U.S. consumers who knew about Small Business Saturday spent $16.2 billion at independent retailers and restaurants on the day, a 14 percent increase from $14.3 billion in 2014.
American Express, which launched the small-business-promoting event in 2010, said last week that a company-sponsored survey showed 55 percent of consumers knew about Small Business Saturday, the highest percentage ever. Two-thirds of poll respondents said they planned to spend at least $100 on the day, Amex added.
"It's a big event for our members," Jack Mozloom, media director for the National Federation of Independent Business, which includes 325,000 U.S. member businesses, said Monday. "We've heard from a number of our members that they've begun to count on Small Business Saturday the way they count on Black Friday.
"We always want to emphasize that small businesses are the country's largest employers; most of the businesses in Nevada are small businesses," added Mozloom, whose group includes 2,200 Nevada businesses. "What we hope is that Americans don't confine their small-business shopping to Small Business Saturday. We hope they discover the advantage of shopping in the community for the things they need and want and will do that all year."
For The Writer's Block, 1020 Fremont St., No. 100, Small Business Saturday marked a milestone; the bookstore opened during the event in 2014. Co-owner Scott Seeley told the View Neighborhood Newspapers that he was pleased with the growth of his store and its surrounding neighborhood.
"We're growing slowly and steadily, and now we're pretty much exactly where I thought we'd be," Seeley said. "The dream would be to be way ahead of that, but I'm happy we're where we're at. When we opened, there was nothing around us — just a bunch of empty storefronts. Now there's 11th Street Records, PublicUs (a coffee and tea shop), and Chow (a restaurant) just opened up next door to us."
Several valley businesses, including T-Bird Jewels, the Protein House restaurant and shoe seller Rollasole, touted Small Business Saturday participation on Twitter using the hashtags #shopsmall and #lasvegas.
Pink Cherry, a business offering Brazilian waxing, tweeted, "Small business creates big jobs! ’ª#SHOPsmall this weekend and help ’ª#lasvegas grow!" The tweet linked to an Instagram picture of salon owner Shaina Bencivenga-Palarca holding a sign reading, "If you #shopsmall at Pink Cherry we can continue to do what we love."
Braddah's Island Style, a burrito restaurant that lists five valley locales on its website, tweeted a picture of a plate of burritos accompanied by a "Shop Small" badge.
Although AmEx promoted and nurtured Small Business Saturday through six renditions, it took away a sweetener this year, per-purchase statement credits.
In 2012, Time magazine online said, customers who spent $25 at small businesses using their Amex card received a $25 credit. In 2013, Amex offered a $10 credit, the magazine said; in 2014, shoppers could get a $10 credit they could redeem up to three times.
"This year, Amex is not offering a statement credit offer for card members on Small Business Saturday, but is increasing the support and resources it provides to help small-business owners market their business within their communities," Sravanthi Agrawal, an American Express vice president for public affairs and communications, said in a statement to the International Business Times.
Agrawal didn't return a phone call seeking comment.
Randi Thompson, state director for the National Federation of Independent Business, said Monday that she had no data about Small Business Saturday sales in Nevada but didn't think the missing incentives would matter much.
First, she said, most shoppers probably didn't know about them. Second, she said, American Express' marketing muscle offered merchants greater value.
"I saw so many ads, on television and otherwise and the 'shop local' message was so strong. And it comes because American Express is such a big player in the banking industry," she said. "They're really positioning themselves to be the go-to card for small business, so it makes sense that they would be helping to promote small businesses on Small Business Saturday."
Follow Matthew Crowley on Twitter @copyjockey.
