The holiday season has been the shopping season for years. The reason the day after Thanksgiving is called Black Friday is because, traditionally at least, that’s when retailers start getting out of debt and into the black.
However, the rise in online shopping has increased over the years to the detriment of small, local, brick-and-mortar retailers. Now those local retailers are looking for ways to regain their traditional share of the consumer market as best they can.
And with the holiday season upon us, they’re urging people to come out on Nov. 30 for Shop Small Saturday. It’s a variation of the shop local drive of the last several years.
Jackie Tate, owner of The Right Touch Engraver at 1290 Baltimore Pike in Chadds Ford Township, acknowledged that the day should generate some needed foot traffic for shopkeepers, but there’s a little more to it than the obvious benefit to retailers. People can look at the actual item, touch it, not just see a photo, and have some human interaction.
“What’s nice is that you can come into a shop and talk about what you’re buying and look at what you’re buying. For us, specifically with engraving, you can choose what fonts you want to use. People want to come in and talk about it,” she said. So, for the consumer, they get the opportunity to come in and really have a personalized experience.”
Tate’s offering a deal on engraved, 20-ounce metal tumblers on Nov. 30. Customers can choose the color of the tumbler as well as the font and design.
Stephanie Rossino, the owner of GiggyBites, the pet treat bakery in Olde Ridge Village, agreed with Tate and said it’s a win/win for shoppers and shopkeepers.
“For the retailer [Shop Small Saturday] is a connection with the community, showing that you don’t have to be bright and shiny and huge to take care of your customers the right way,” she said, but there’s also a benefit to the consumer.
“For the consumer, we make a special effort, we do things differently, we do things in the store, personal touches and personal service,” Rossino said. “[At GiggyBites] we hand make our treats and our dinners. All of our products are produced here in our store. You won’t see that in other places, especially not big box stores.
GiggyBites will be hosting Santa again next Saturday, the day of Shop Small, but without a reindeer this year. She said updated state regulations put an end to that. But the shop will have an open house with snacks for dogs and people.
Shop Small Saturday this year also coincides with an anniversary for Doubet Jewelers, also in Olde Ridge. According to Dan Doubet, Nov. 30 is the 120th anniversary of the family-owned business. His grandfather started the business in 1904.
Beginning on Shop Small Saturday, Doubet will have a month-long sale in honor of the anniversary with up to 50 percent off on “some items,” he said.
“We’re going to try to empty the store if we can.”
Doubet added that there will be the annual catered Christmas party on Saturday, Dec. 14, from 2-7 p.m. for which everybody’s invited.
As with Rossino and Tate, Doubet sees Shop Small Saturday as being in keeping with what his family business has been doing for more than a century, providing customers with that personal experience.
Doubet said one customer drives five hours to get to his shop because her mother was a long-time customer. “She wouldn’t go anywhere else.
Carl Doubet, one of Dan Doubet’s cousins, said “When you’re a mom and pop up against those other guys, you have to have an edge on something, and generally that edge is on service. Mom-and-pop shops give better service than the chain store jewelers.”
Gretchen Hulse is the owner of Crescent Moon Clothing, also in Olde Ridge. While her shop is not a traditional retail outlet with regular store hours — it’s her studio — but she, too thinks Shop Small Saturday is a good move.
Shopping local at those small retail stores is good for the consumer because they provide a “more personal experience.”
She continued by saying the level of knowledge is better, too.
“When you go to a big box store, and you talk to a salesperson, they’re not really knowledgeable about the product as much as the small business owner would be,” Hulse said.
And there’s the human connection of shopping in person as opposed to online. Hulse told a short story about going to the bank and an employee there said it might be easier to do her banking online with an app.
“I said ‘Yeah, but I just like to see a real person every once in a while.’”
Hulse makes what she calls “wearable art” — blouses, skirts, and sweaters that are dyed and decorated.
She has no specific plans for Nov. 30, but Crescent Moon Clothing will be open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. But, she said, there will be cookies and apple cider.
About Rich Schwartzman
Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.
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