Des Moines Small Business Saturday Encourages 'Shop Small'

DES MOINES, IA — With the holiday shopping season in full swing and Black Friday deals claimed, the next opportunity to score a bargain and help the economy comes on Small Business Saturday. This is the eighth year for the effort to recognize the businesses that make a community unique and original and support holiday shopping at the local level.

More than 6,700 events and activities were planned nationwide last year as part of Small Business Saturday, according to American Express, which started the campaign in 2010. The company recognizes everything from dining and retailers to service providers and nonprofit groups in its Shop Small guides you can search by city.

Small Business Saturday momentum had spread to every state by its third year and "Neighborhood Champions" were formed in 2013. Those groups and individuals rally their communities with special events and promotions.

Locally, the Downtown Des Moines Chamber of Commerce is a Neighborhood Champion. Its Shop Small program encourages shoppers to visit member stores and nonprofits that have a "Shop Small" sign in the window. Shoppers can pick up a "passport" at those businesses and have it stamped anytime through Dec. 11 when they make a purchase or participate in promotions or social media campaigns. Prize drawings will be held and the submission deadline for completed passports is noon Dec. 12 at the chamber office, 301 Grand Ave. (Inside RDG Planning & Design) or at Saturday Manufacturing, 1717 Ingersoll Ave.

In West Des Moines, the Valley Junction business district will participate in Small Business Saturday by giving away goodie bags filled with prizes and gift certificates. The first 500 adult shoppers to stop at Historic City Hall, 137 Fifth, beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday will receive a bag.

According to American Express, there are 266,382 small businesses in Iowa. In 2014, an estimated 6,126 jobs were created statewide by small businesses and 48.7 percent of the state's workforce was employed by a small business.

Last year, 112 million people shopped at small businesses on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, which resulted in an estimated $15.4 billion in sales, American Express reported.

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