Shop Local Raleigh lends its support to Small Business Saturday® and drives commerce to Wake County small businesses
Raleigh – November 3, 2014 – Shop Local Raleigh and the Greater Raleigh Merchants Association today announced its participation in this year’s Small Business Saturday, taking place on November 29, 2014. Small Business Saturday is a day dedicated to strengthening the community by supporting local small businesses.
Shop Local Raleigh will be promoting Small Business Saturday via the WRAL Raleigh Christmas parade on November 22, 2014. Shop Local Raleigh will also incorporate their Where’s Walter campaign on Small Business Saturday. Where’s Walter will ask consumers to go to local businesses and find the Sir Walter statue and tag the store where they found him. The contest is done annually in an effort to highlight local businesses, local Raleigh history and get consumers engaged in their community.
Now in its fifth year, Small Business Saturday serves as the ceremonial kickoff to the holiday shopping season for small businesses across the United States. In 2013, nearly 1,500 Neighborhood Champions rallied local businesses and created events and activities to drive shopping at small businesses around the country. The day was also championed by elected officials in all 50 states and Washington D.C., including President Obama who took his daughters shopping at a local bookstore.
Shop Local Raleigh recognizes the importance of supporting small business in Wake County, the jobs they help create and the culture they instill in local communities. According to the U.S. Small Businesses Administration, as of 2012, small businesses nationwide accounted for 64% of net new private-sector jobs created and represented 99.7% of all employer firms.1
Merchants and consumers can learn more about Small Business Saturday and how to get involved by visiting ShopSmall.com and the official Small Business Saturday Facebook page.
Contacts:
Jennifer Martin
Executive Director
Shop Local Raleigh ~ Greater Raleigh Merchants Association
jennifer@shoplocalraleigh.org
919-256-3640
Sal Della Monica
M Booth
212.539.3272
sald@mbooth.com
ABOUT SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY
Nov 29 marks the fifth annual Small Business Saturday, a day to support the local businesses that create jobs, boost the economy and preserve neighborhoods around the country. Small Business Saturday was created in 2010 in response to small business owners’ most pressing need: more customers. To date, more than 3.3 million Facebook users “liked” the Small Business Saturday page2. Just last year, 370+ advocacy organizations, 160+ corporations, and elected officials in all 50 states and Washington D.C. declared their support for Small Business Saturday.
1 Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy Frequently Asked Questions, September 2012
2 According to Facebook Insights, the Small Business Saturday page on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/#!/SmallBusinessSaturday received 3,316,569 “Likes” as of 5/20/2014
