A Guide to Shopping Small

I do love the Shop Small movement. My husband and I are small business owners. For many years now I’ve made shopping Small a part of my every day life. However, I have an issue with what I see Shop Small Saturday becoming.

Let me give a quick example of what “Shop Small” really means to me: I bought 4 homemade pies 🥧from a small business owner and paid $15 a pie. It was pointed out to me I could have gotten pies twice the size at a wholesale big box store for $8-$10 each. I still wanted my $15 pies and was happy to spend the money because I knew I had supported a hardworking local mom and business owner and friend. I also knew these pies were handmade with love and WORTH every penny. I would not ask this shop owner to lower her price to compete with the bigger store because I know she charges a fair amount. She charges what she needs to charge to make a living and keep the lights on. I chose to shop small, pay more and keep my dollars local. To me THAT is shopping small.

An example of what is not shopping small: A bakery owner feels pressure to lower their pies to $8 each for shop small Saturday to wrangle in the holiday bargain hunters. People pile in to get these cheap pies. The shop owner has more work than ever on her hands, but because she competed with the Black Friday deals she has not made any money or likely lost money. Nobody was valued and supported in this example.

So this Shop Small Saturday, let’s not pressure small business owners to deeply discount their goods or services like Black Friday. Instead let’s value their services and trust that the price they charge year round is what they need to make a living.

Let’s support small business owners by valuing them, paying them fair and helping them thrive.