Shop small Saturday in Southeast Michigan

Downtown Trenton hopes to attract many holiday shoppers in 2021

‘Tis the season to shop small and local! This Saturday marks the 10th Small Business Saturday. This national celebration is an important opportunity to support local businesses, especially during the holiday season. It also brings together communities through local events and activities. Throughout Southeast Michigan, communities (Berkley, Birmingham, Clinton Township, Dearborn, Detroit, Farmington, Ferndale, Howell, Lake Orion, Lathrup Village, Livonia, Oxford, Rochester, Saline to name just a few): are organizing around this event to encourage holiday shoppers to spend their dollars locally. Oakland County is also helping celebrate “Shopping Small and Local”, and has created a webpage at OakGov.com/ShopSmall where shoppers can search for community holiday activities and businesses.

As reported by the Michigan Retailers Administration, if only one in 10 out-of-state purchases were switched to local stores, Michigan would gain $1.9 billion in increased economic activity, creating 14,000 new jobs. This annual celebration is part of a larger movement aimed at encouraging shoppers to invest in their communities and boost local commerce year-round. According to the Small Business Administration (SBA), 1.9 million – or 48.3% – of employees in the State of Michigan are small business employees. Overall, these small businesses and their employees are an important driver to our state’s economy. Each small business also helps to create diversity within the business community, and altogether they comprise over 98 percent of the Michigan’s businesses.

During the upcoming holiday season, SEMCOG encourages you to Shop Local – Southeast Michigan. Whether you are shopping close to home or making the regional rounds this holiday season, there are many ways to participate. You can seek out a unique dining or entertainment experience in addition to, of course, shopping.

For the second year, SEMCOG is partnering with a few member communities to produce promotional videos encouraging investment in the local economy. Here are a couple of those collaborations. If your community is interested in working with SEMCOG on a Shop Local video in the future, please let us know!

Shop Local – Brighton

Shop Local – Trenton

Are you a small business owner looking to get involved? There are resources to help promote the occasion. The Shop Small Resource Hub provides free Small Business Saturday marketing materials for a variety of businesses. You can also register your business to appear on the American Express “Shop small” map.