Small Business Saturday comes to Williamsport
While the Black Friday madness gets shoppers to come out for a great deal, Small Business Saturday encourages shoppers to head to local small businesses and enjoy great sales that support the local community today.
This year, Williamsport is doing a passport system where shoppers can pick up a passport ticket at any of the participating stores in Williamsport. Then as they shop, they can have their passport stamped from store to store. Once the passport is completed with 8 store stamps, it can also be returned at any of the participating stores for a chance to win gift cards and prizes.
The passport program kicks off today on Small Business Saturday and lasts until Dec. 9, so shoppers have more than a day to fill out their passports. Winners will be announced Dec. 15.
The program first started in 2015 by Worth and Chelsea Rawson of Dirty Dogs Clay Studio and now is combined with John Yogodzinski, of the Graphic Hive, and the Williamsport Business Association.
“We’ve been slowly trying to build and get as many businesses as we can to participate,” Yogodzinski said. “We put together a passport of 41 different businesses. It’s over a $1,000 worth of prizes.”
He said it involves a lot of the downtown stores.
“We have anything from restaurants to shopping stores to art galleries to coffee shops. Any of the participating businesses will have passports available, and they are also downloadable on the WBA website,” he said. “If you finish it and your last stop is at Alabaster, we’ll go collect them at Alabaster.”
He said it doesn’t matter which store the passports are turned in at, so shoppers don’t have to worry about circling back to any specific location.
Visit www.facebook.com/WilliamsportBusinessAssociation/ for more information about the passports or how to get one online.
The day keeps businesses buzzing with activity downtown in Williamsport.
“It’s busy. We’ve noticed the last few years, it’s almost busier than Black Friday for us,” said Denyse Miele, of Gustonian Gifts. “It’s the one time of year they really want to come down and support the local businesses. They even tell us they didn’t come yesterday because they wanted to come today. Sometimes even people come both days.”
She said that visitors from outside of the area enjoy what the downtown has to offer.
“We get a lot of people from out of town saying how beautiful our downtown is. Sometimes local people don’t appreciate it as much, but we get people visiting from other areas that appreciate the little stores and restaurants. It’s a one-stop shop,” Miele said.
She said many of the stores are participating in sales to encourage shopping.
Karen Ciccarelli, office manager of the Clothier, said that Small Business Saturday helps out local businesses.
“I think that we’re a lot busier since they’ve started the Small Business Saturday. They do it annually, and I think it’s a great way to support small businesses,” she said. “We have a loyal clientele base, and quite a few customers come from out of town.”
She said it helps out all shoppers as well as the businesses.
“I think it encourages in-town shoppers to shop and support the local businesses,” she said. “I think it brings out-of-town business in.”
Katy Nassberg, owner of Otto Bookstore, said that events like this help the city.
“Things like Small Business Saturday are crucial for putting the spotlight on all of our small businesses that make up the community and help make Williamsport what it is,” she said. “Without the support of locals, we wouldn’t be around anymore especially in the age of Amazon. It’s absolutely crucial to have days like this where we can draw attention to all these businesses that really do make up the community and having that support for what makes Williamsport special and unique.”
She said she hopes as many people will participate as possible.
“Small Business Saturday is a big deal for us,” she said. “Come out and support the local community. It’s the community supporting the community, that’s what it’s really all about.”
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