Black Friday may be over, but you can still find great gifts and deals at local small businesses on Small Business Saturday.
According to Small Business Saturday's Facebook page, 78% of business owners surveyed say holiday sales will impact their ability to stay in business in 2022.
Shopping local helps small businesses recover from challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, shipping supply issues, increased costs of goods and more.
With shopping local in mind, Lions and Rabbits Center for the Arts in Grand Rapids is hosting an artist market Saturday ahead of the holiday season.
It's just one of the places where you can find local vendors selling their handcrafted goods like ceramic mugs, embroidery and wall art.
"You'll never be able to find the stuff that you find locally anywhere else," said Lions and Rabbits executive director Hannah Berry. "And I think when you go shopping in other cities, and you pick up your keepsakes, like why aren't we doing that locally, too. So I think when you when you really digest what shopping is and why people do it, and how you can support artists like that is a hand-in-hand way that you can do things for local people."
The market is from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. at Lions and Rabbits on Plainfield Avenue. There will be two more opportunities to shop next month on Dec. 8 and 9.
In Newaygo, Katie DeVries of Katie & Company is offering deals and special promotions to encourage shoppers to stop by. Katie & Company specializes in décor and art consignment. For DeVries, shopping local is a way to directly support others in your community.
"You're feeding a family," DeVries said. "You're providing the funds for them to continue fueling their passion. I think the more we support local, the better we do as a community."
To simplify the process of shopping local, Arts Marketplace in Grand Rapids will be holding a pop-up shop for local businesses from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m. Over 75 vendors will be available in one place for shoppers to peruse.
More information on the pop-up shop can be found here.
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