Campaign to buy local gets boost from Delaware congressman
By Cori Anne Natoli
Small business is getting a big push in the First State and across the nation, as a building awareness from paid advertising campaigns steers consumers to buy in their backyards.
The message promoting the fourth year of Small Business Saturday is being sent not only from store owners, but also trade organizations and officials, perhaps more loudly than ever before.
It is seen in the number of small businesses that will count on advertising to promote Saturday, doubling this year. Some 67 percent plan to offer bargains to lure customers to brick-and-mortar shops Saturday, according to National Federation of Independent Businesses and American Express research.
“Small businesses rely on a strong holiday season to support them during the slow times,” said U.S. Rep. John Carney (D-Del.) on Tuesday before heading to a small-business press conference to encourage Delawareans to buy local throughout the season. “These are businesses that employ our neighbors, help the economy and are invested in building our communities.”
Carney’s conference shined a light on small businesses at Al’s Sporting Goods, 210 N. Market St., in Wilmington.
“My goal is to raise awareness of how important this time of year is for business owners, encourage Delawareans to shop local, and help small businesses attract the loyal customers that will keep their doors open the entire year,” he said.
Carney is offering an incentive to entice residents to support locally owned stores, according to Albert Shields, senior press and policy adviser for Carney.
Starting this weekend, Delawareans are encouraged to take a photo of their receipt from a First State small business and post it to the Congressman’s Facebook page, www.facebook.com/JohnCarneyDE. A drawing will be held for a chance to win lunch for two with Carney in the Member’s Dining Room in the Capitol, Shields said. Multiple entries from individuals will be accepted, and the deadline for posting is Dec. 27. For many small businesses, the holiday season – unusually short this year due to Thanksgiving’s late arrival – accounts for well over 50 percent of annual sales, said John Fleming, district director for the Delaware Chapter of the U.S. Small Business Administration.
Nestled between Black Friday and Cyber Monday is Small Business Saturday – a day that drew 69.7 million shoppers in 2012 and gave Main Street a boost of $5.5 billion in sales to independents nationally, said Fleming, who spoke at the conference.
“This money goes right back into the local economy, and that’s important because we know that half of working Americans either own or work for a small business,” Fleming said.
