Shop and win in Powell: Small Business Saturday event is a ‘celebratory kickoff’ for local economy

Posted 11/28/14

“It truly is the celebratory kickoff to the holiday season for small businesses,” says Nicole Leinbach Reyhle, founder of Retail Minded, a company that consults with and provides resources to independent retailers. “But it’s not just about …

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Shop and win in Powell: Small Business Saturday event is a ‘celebratory kickoff’ for local economy

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Black Friday may get a lot of national media attention, but Small Business Saturday’s impact in local communities is on the grow.

The two shopping days follow Thanksgiving but they are as different as night and day. While big box stores have pushed Black Friday from the afternoon to early morning to, in some cases, Thanksgiving itself, Small Business Saturday remains a locally driven day on the Saturday following the annual family gathering and feast.

“It truly is the celebratory kickoff to the holiday season for small businesses,” says Nicole Leinbach Reyhle, founder of Retail Minded, a company that consults with and provides resources to independent retailers. “But it’s not just about the small businesses celebrating themselves; it’s about customers celebrating those local small businesses that they love.”

In Powell, three Powell Bucks prizes will be awarded. People can enter at local stores, and when three names are drawn Monday, the winners will receive $250, $150 and $100 in Powell Bucks, which can be spent like cash in local businesses.

Powell Valley Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Jaime Schmeiser said this is the third year Small Business Saturday is being observed in Powell; it enhances the Shop Local campaign, she said.

“Every dollar spent in a local community stays in a local community,” Schmeiser said. “We have a lot to offer. A lot of people don’t realize what we have in this small town. I can’t say enough about our stores here.”

She said virtually the entire business community teamed up for  the event.

“This is the first concerted effort to really, really go for Small Business Saturday,” Schmeiser said. “Sample the Season was the kickoff.”

Now shoppers can go back and shop, plus enter to win the money, or Powell Bucks, which are like money, she said.

Supporting local businesses isn’t just smart financially, she said. It pays off in other ways.

“Our communities are where we live, work and play, or live, learn and earn, as my motto used to be,” Schmeiser said. “It allows a business to support the Cub Scouts or other groups. We help each other out.”

Participating businesses include Buffalo Billie’s, Comfort Cottage, Wyoming Wireless, Dan’s Boot & Saddle, Big Horn Co-op, The Jam Spot Music & Hobbies, Four Seasons Floral & Gifts, ACE, RadioShack Hometown Electronics, Cut & Sew Fabrics & Crafts, Larsen’s Bicycles, Aldrich Lumber, Bloedorn Lumber, NAPA Auto Parts, Marquis Awards & Specialties, Colors & Crafts, Polecat Printery, Blair’s Super Market, The Merc, McGlathery’s Back Porch Designs, The Depot, Hansel & Gretel’s and LaVina’s.

Linda Tritchler, owner of Colors & Crafts, 139 N. Bent St., is looking forward to her first Small Business Saturday. The family-owned business opened in March.

“I think small businesses really have a place,” Tritchler said.

Her store will open at 10 a.m., as usual, but instead of closing at 3 p.m. as it normally does, she plans to remain open until 6 p.m. Some businesses may extend their hours, Schmeiser said, while others will maintain regular hours on Saturday.

Tritchler said she hopes Small Business Saturday is a success this year.

“I think it’s important, because if people don’t support it, the small businesses are going to go away,” she said. “Small businesses really help the community stay alive.”

Tritchler said she has a customer who plans to shop at her store rather than head to Billings or elsewhere in search of bargains. She said she tries to offer exceptional personal attention to grow her business.

“Customer service, I think, is going to be the biggest thing for us,” Tritchler said. “I can’t possibly try to compete with the prices, I can’t order the quantity they do, but I can provide the best quality service.”

More than two dozen studies have looked at the value that small businesses bring to their local communities, says Michael H. Shuman, an economist and author who specializes in community economics and was in Powell for a conference in September.

“Every single one of them shows that every single dollar spent at a local business leads to two to four times the amount of jobs, income and wealth, tax collections, and charitable contributions,” Shuman says. “There’s no magic to it — it’s basic economics that companies that are local have more local relationships, and that’s what creates this disproportionate positive effect.”

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