The day after Thanksgiving has become known as “Black Friday” – a name given to the day that many merchants have maintained that they are in the “black” on their profit-and-loss statement for the year and can afford discount deals on various items.
As has become tradition, many shoppers will get up early Friday morning and stand in line for hours to be among the first into the store to take advantage of the deals. Th day is not without criticism, as some feel the days benefit chain stores and businesses with profits leaving the area. Also, people have sometimes been seriously harmed and even trampled to death in the melee that accompanies Black Friday, as people rush through the doors when a business first opens.
This year there, while many people still planning on lining up outside the box stores for Black Friday, others are being encouraged to shop local – and part of it is due to a credit card company sponsoring a program for the small stores in small towns. Small Business Saturday is being promoted by American Express.
Not only is the credit card company advocating that we shop locally, they are advocating shopping at small, independently owned businesses. By buying there, the buyer is not only helping the small shop owner, he or she is also helping the local community. The promotion will take place the Saturday after Thanksgiving – Nov. 24, 2012 – and gives people an opportunity to really help the small store and the small stores in the small towns.
There are a variety of locally owned retail outlets in Jamestown and Chautauqua County that will be open on Saturday and local residents are encouraged to stop and shop at those places to support local business.
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