If you've never participated before, Small Business Saturday is an event that takes place the Saturday after Black Friday. According to my research, it was started in 2010 by...American Express. Now before you judge the event by its somewhat unfortunate parent, hang tight because I actually think it has value. Small Business Saturday encourages shoppers who have spent a lot of time and money at the national chain stores the day before to spread the wealth and intentionally patronize the small local businesses in their city. These small businesses of course won't be able to offer the huge markdowns and doorbuster deals the shoppers saw the day before, so to some degree this event is asking us to sacrifice something - to forego a good deal in order to live out a value you and I might hold of supporting those people who take a risk to start a small business in our area and who contribute to the diversity, vibrancy, and economy all around us.
I can't remember ever intentionally participating in SBS before, but this year I was bound and determined to! I got up Saturday morning and first headed over to support my favorite small business coffee shop....which if you've ever read my fan-girl posts of the past, you can probably guess that I'm referring to Archive. I kind of wished that I could order coffee and pick up a couple of delectable donuts from BigWig Donut's pop up shop inside of Archive. But I wasn't feeling that great, so I grabbed a scone and a steaming cup of "feel better" tea and settled in to get some stuff done on my computer.
After I was done, I popped back across the street to my apartment to drop my computer off, then I set out to explore some small businesses!
My first stop was a store that I had been in before, but not for some time - Slab.
Slab is a local handmade soap company with lots of great smelling gems. I walk past them all the time and see their pretty soaps in the window and had been meaning to pay them a visit. With Christmas coming, and Small Business Saturday upon us, it was the perfect time. I walked in and started perusing.
There was such a large variety to choose from! There were manly scents and girly scents. There were strong scents and subtle scents. They had a handful of Christmas scents with names like Taunenbaum and Fireside. The Oregonian in me loved that they had a Douglas Fir scent.
There was even a soap with coffee grounds in it! And, the prices are pretty good as far as handmade soap goes. Each bar is $5, with discounts available if you buy larger quantities. I circled the store a few times smelling a bunch of the bars. When I made my purchase, I was super impressed that the girl helping me simply looked at each bar, smelled it, then wrapped it up in paper and wrote the name of the soap without hesitation. And I even had one bar that was almost identical to another one and she didn't miss a beat!
After Slab, I had my mind set on trying out a few places that I had never been in before. I didn't really have a plan, so I just started to wander. The first place that caught my eye was a cute shop called Ma Valise.
I walked in and could feel the Parisian/European vibe. It's set up like many downtown businesses seem to be - in a long, narrow space. It was packed full of treasures. Every space of the store was used and there was a ton to look at. They had Christmas displays up front with beautiful trees and ornaments.
The rest of the shop was a mix of interesting novelties, cute plush toys, aprons, clothing, pictures painted on old dictionary pages, various Paris themed trinkets. Nothing seemed to really be cheaply made, and it all kind of gave off an "I'm special" vibe.
I didn't find anything to purchase there except an anniversary card for a party I was attending. Earlier in the day I realized I needed a card and I almost planned to go over to the local pharmacy down the street to get one before it dawned on me that there are so many little shops around here that I could support instead! I'm glad I realized that!
When I left Ma Valise, I walked out the door and noticed its neighbor, The Arbor. It looked cute enough, so I went in there too.
The Arbor is also a novelty/gift store. It had a way different feel than Ma Valise though. Whereas Ma Valise was packed full of European-ish things, The Arbor was spacious, light and airy, and spread out and had a modern vibe. It had a calm and bright feeling about it.
Its inventory seemed to be fine/high quality gifts, but without a shocking price tag. It had unique items like engraved flasks (which I was tempted to buy for my brother!), gardening supplies, nice bath treats (including a tiiiiiny tin of harvested sea salt which I couldn't quite figure out the use of), and more.
There was a kids section that had interesting toys, as well as my favorite thing there - classic literature books that were adapted for toddlers!! How cute is that?
And as an added bonus, The shop owner announced that she was offering a 15% discount store-wide for Small Business Saturday. Great! I found some gifts and enjoyed the discount.
My time allotted for shopping was getting short, but I decided to make one last stop. I had walked past One Fair World many a time, but had never set foot inside. I had wanted to check it out for quite sometime, so I set my sights down Court Street and headed that way.
What I found was yet another shop full of special items. From what I could tell from the tags on the merchandise and from what the shop workers told me when I asked, it's a non-profit organization that pays the artisans up front. They also appear to sell some other less-crafty fair trade products. There was so much to look at in the store! Most of it seemed to be made by artisans in various countries. There were instruments, books, candles, soaps, bags, jewelry, Christmas ornaments, baskets, wooden goods, food, clothing, hats, etc. My favorite was all of the nativity scenes; they had quite the variety.
I grabbed a small gift for someone and went to check out. I noticed their sign asking for cash instead of credit to save on their costs (something I don't ever really consider unless someone tells me!) and I was thankful that I had cash on me to help out with their cause, even in a small way.
Overall, I had a great time on Small Business Saturday! I'm glad I did it! I hope this will spur me on to check out more of my neighbors in the near future. When I do, trust that you will get to peek in on them with me :)
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