Pittsburghers come together to celebrate Small Business Saturday
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Black Friday may be over, but the long holiday shopping weekend continues with Small Business Saturday, which may be taking over Black Friday as a big day for sales.
Locally, folks packed the streets of the Strip District to search for the perfect gifts.
Up and down Penn Avenue, families filled the sidewalks to go shopping for their loved ones. Amy Bertolino of Franklin Park was one of countless people who decided to check out the variety of stores and vendors in Pittsburgh's Strip District.
"The holidays are here, and it's a nice time to come down," Bertolino said.
The same went for Joshua Bradley, who was visiting Pittsburgh from Rochester, New York, and loves to support brick-and-mortar stores.
"I find things that people aren't going to be able to find for themselves," Bradley said.
Folks specifically picked this spot to do their holiday shopping to support local businesses.
"I like to keep the small businesses going," Bertolino said.
The National Retail Federation predicted more than 65 million people would shop this Small Business Saturday after spending nearly $18 billion at mom-and-pop shops last year.
Based on a report by Bankrate, about 60% of holiday shoppers were likely to choose Small Business Saturday for their shopping, higher than the 56% of shoppers who were likely to shop Black Friday.
It's the reason why Paulina Moran of Lucy's Handmade Clothes looks forward to the annual event.
"This is really important to us because we wait for it with so much, like, excitement every year," Moran said.
It's not just about big sales but also about welcoming new customers to their clothing and souvenir store.
"We're really grateful that more people are able to come and find us because of Small Business Saturday. We really appreciate how many people it has opened the door to for people to know about us and to come and support us," Moran said.
Folks are getting into the holiday spirit, checking off their lists, and maybe even grabbing one last thing for themselves.
"You have to treat yourself," Bertolino said.
If you want to shop small this holiday season, you have more than 350,000 stores in our area to choose from, according to the district director of the U.S. Small Business Administration.