You may have heard of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but a less well-known but equally important “holiday” is sandwiched between the two dates: Small Business Saturday.
Columbia County Helping Undo Boundaries (H.U.B.) has organized a free “Small Business Saturday Shop Small Event” that will be held at Wild Currant Catering at 201 S 1st St. in St. Helens from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Nov. 25.
This event is free and will include Santa and Elf photos, free ornament making, free samples for community restaurants, and a vendor area.
Columbia County H.U.B. Board Chair and event organizer Amanda Normine detailed why Small Business Saturday is so important, especially in small communities.
“When you shop at a local small business, 70 percent of the money that you spend stays in the local community. When you shop at, say, Walmart, 40 percent or less stays here local,” Normine said. “A lot of these little shops don’t have huge marketing budgets, so you don’t really know they exist until you happen to be walking down Columbia Boulevard one day. Small Business Saturday is meant to promote these little businesses that we love.”
Normine said she thinks a lot of people think they need to go to bigger cities like Portland to find the products they want, when in reality, they may be local and just not know about them. Normine said the Shop Small Event they are putting on is to bring people out to support their local shops.
Wild Currant Catering will host the event as a “last hurrah” for the business as it will be ceasing operations at the end of November. Normine said that the event will be a “goodbye” to longtime Wild Currant owner Doug Boyes. As an homage to Boyes, Normine said the event will feature a charcuterie contest.
“We’re having a charcuterie contest in his honor. You have to shop local for at least two of the items and highlight where you got them. It’s all about presentation because Doug loves a good presentation,” Normine said.
Normine said that the first 20 people who come to the event with a receipt from any Columbia County small business will get a “Shop Small” tote bag.
In addition to the charcuterie contest, there will be a variety of local food, goods, and wares.
Normine said there will be “eats and treats” from local businesses like Plymouth Pub and Victoricos for folks to sample. Five or six vendors will also have jewelry, candles, and other items. Normine also said that she hopes people will head over to nearby local businesses like 2Cs Vendor Mall. 2Cs Vendor Mall hosts more than 70 vendors, according to 2Cs’ website.
“The goal is we get them to start with us, and then they keep going down First Street, and up Columbia Boulevard,” Normine said. “We’re highlighting the mainstreet corridor in St. Helens because of the amount of shopping and small businesses we have there.”
In addition to the food and local vendors, the event will see Santa and a helper make the trek from the North Pole to Wild Currant. The elf will be there for the duration of the event, and Santa will be available for photos from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Normine said that everyone will get a paper craft ornament made out of a free black and white photo. Normine noted that the free decorations and Santa photo op are a great way to add to the fun without cost for attendees.
The event will feature some food and drink items for sale, as well as some other “fun fundraisers,” which will help support the Columbia County H.U.B.’s business development contest.
Overall, Normine emphasized the impact that people can have within a small community.
“The biggest thing is just helping people to see just how important little things that they can do that can have a big impact. Maybe you don’t have a lot of money to go out and spend in your local community. Well, I challenge you to still come out on Small Business Saturday and have fun with us, and just take pictures of cool stuff and post them,” Normine said. “You can do things for free that help your neighbors pay their bills this holiday season. The money that you spend in that shop today goes in their pocket today. Do what you can for our small businesses because we are what keeps them open.”