List growing for Small Business Saturday

The Small Business Saturday event is growing with gusto.

More than 200 businesses have signed up for this Saturday’s shopping event, up from about 120 in 2015, according to the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce.

Part of the boost is credited to the chambers around the Flathead Valley banding together to promote local businesses the day after Black Friday. Last year, Bigfork, Whitefish and Lakeside-Somers chambers joined Kalispell in the event for the first time, creating a valley-wide consumer experience to highlight small shops and local producers. This year, Columbia Falls has joined the action as well.

Becky Nash, a manager at The Toggery in Kalispell, said the store saw more business on Small Business Saturday than on Black Friday.

“The Flathead community definitely came in to support and shop local,” Nash said. “We’re just a small mom-and-pop shop and so we just really appreciate it.”

The Toggery will carry its same Black Friday deals over to Small Business Saturday.

American Express in 2010 started the holiday shopping event as an effort to revitalize main-street “mom-and-pop” shops around the country during heavy big-box shopping periods, such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Shops around the Flathead participate, from small gift stores like Electric Avenue Gifts in Bigfork, to larger retailers like Sportsman & Ski Haus.

“There’s a lot of enthusiasm around Small Business Saturday; a number of participating businesses tell us this is their biggest day of the year,” Kalispell Chamber of Commerce President Joe Unterreiner said. “I think it speaks to people in the Flathead who like to support our local small businesses and appreciate that they gather to help support each other.”

Kate Lufkin, spokeswoman for the Kalispell Chamber, said Small Business Saturday gives local shops a chance to offer deals to their customers, while highlighting their brand during the holiday rush. She said while about three to five businesses join the chamber each month, about seven new businesses joined the chamber this year, in part because of the promotions offered for Small Business Saturday.

Brooke Walsh, manager at Rose Mountain Floral, said Small Business Saturday typically draws 10 to 15 new customers into the store, up from the three or four from a regular day. This will be the store’s third year taking part in the event.

Wheaton’s, one of the oldest-standing business fixtures of downtown Kalispell, has also participated in the holiday since the Kalispell chamber picked it up in 2013.

“We’ve done them all, of course,” Wheaton’s owner Margaret LeKander said. “The first year we thought it was a great idea and it’s been building every year since.”

LeKander said the shopping holiday is a chance for her salespeople to engage with customers who are out looking for holiday gift ideas. It’s also a time when she hopes customers will show support for a small shops like Wheaton’s.

“We know what we’re dealing with in the retail world,” LeKander said. “So many people come in, try on a helmet and then go buy it on Amazon. It’s insulting sometimes. So it’s a chance to engage a little bit more, build a following and for people to realize how much we know about our industry.”

New to this year’s shopping holiday is the chamber’s push for businesses to brand themselves with “Shop Small” materials the chamber provides. American Express provides marketing materials online for businesses to create their own promotional materials, print them out and hang them in the window or in the store.

Another addition to this year’s event is the chamber’s social media campaign, which asks consumers to “Show us how you shop small.” Chambers this year will be offering rewards to shoppers who hashtag their social media posts with #ShopSmallFlathead and their location, such as #Kalispell or #Somers. Each town will pick a winner, who gets a $59 gift certificate from the chambers, which will take submissions from Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

For more information on Small Business Saturday, visit www.KalispellChamber.com.

Reporter Seaborn Larson may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at slarson@dailyinterlake.com.