Main Street's turn: Small Business Saturday
Black Friday is over, but 89 million consumers plan to "shop small" on Small Business Saturday, according to a survey by American Express.
It's an effort to promote independent retailers on Main Street.
Now "Small Business Saturday" is being promoted in cities across the country, including New York, Boston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Miami and Detroit.
Tim Morse, whose ski and snowboard shop Wicked Sharp in West Roxbury, Mass., features local products such as Bean snowboards, is totally sold on the idea of Small Business Saturday.
"I think the small businesses in all of these communities are what support the communities, instead of the bigger businesses, because most of our dollars, if they're spent here, they stay here," Morse told CBS Station WBZ.
Morse said the dollars he makes are spent at neighboring businesses, reports WBZ correspondent Ron Sanders.
"My experience has been that once people find out about your local business and come in, they continue to come back," Elizabeth Swanson, owner of Birch St. House & Garden in Roslindale Village, Mass., told WBZ. "So any time you can get widespread exposure and have even more people come in, it'll be great and it'll help throughout the year,"
The owners of Boston Cheese Cellar, John and Kathy Lacher, also live in Roslindale, and have a deep connection with their community - providing local jobs and featuring art from neighborhood middle schools on the wall.
They told WBZ correspondent Alana Gomez they're taking part in Small Business Saturday, and American Express is helping - offering its customers $25 credit to those who buy something from local shops.
AmEx is also giving $100 worth of free Facebook advertising to 10,000 business owners who sign-up.
Sweetening the deal: Free metered parking in some cities.
In New York's Tribeca neighborhood merchants are celebrating Small Business Saturday with live music, raffles and demonstrations by businesses including a nail salon.
In Detroit free shuttles from the Inside Detroit Welcome Center will be available to transport shoppers to different Detroit neighborhoods in Midtown, New Center, the downtown business district and Eastern Market.