PORTLAND, Ore. — With Christmas just a month away, many shoppers visited local Portland stores for "Small Business Saturday."
Workers at stores in northwest and northeast Portland said events like Small Business Saturday are essential for their success.
“We did hire some new girls for the holiday season,” said Ashley Chaney, a store manager at Sloan. “Staying local ... I think that’s what keeps communities going.”
Other stores also stayed busy Saturday. A couple blocks away from Sloan on 23rd Avenue is New Renaissance Bookshop, a bookstore that’s been in northwest Portland for 36 years. The bookstore also sells yoga mats, statues and more to customers.
“It’s a very exciting time of year,” said John Casey, an employee at New Renaissance Bookshop. “We get a lot of people coming through.”
Many people come into the store regularly, Casey said, but New Renaissance sees plenty of new customers during the holidays.
“When people come for the first time, it is such a delight because they’re always like, ‘Wow! You know I’ve been hearing about this store and I finally came down and it’s amazing,’” Casey said.
In St. John’s, local businesses are welcoming more clientele, too.
“There’s a lot of small businesses around here that kind of have each other's back,” said Joey Deagle, a shop manager at Huk Lab, a disc golf store.
Small Business Saturday helps the shop during the slowest time of the year, Deagle said.
"It’s huge; it’s important,” he said. “This is kind of what it feels more like during a summer day when the store’s busy from open to close.”
The St. John’s business district also organized an ugly sweater event, in which shoppers can vote for their favorite ugly sweater in stores window fronts.
It’s all part of an effort for people to shop locally throughout the holidays.
“It’s drawing people’s attention to all the small businesses, which is really cool,” Deagle said.