Small Business Saturday is a great time to shop locally

Small Business Saturday is the Saturday immediately following Thanksgiving, the day after Black Friday, as it has been since 2010 when American Express first started the small-business-supporting program.

It’s still a couple weeks away, but apparently some people take time to plan their holiday shopping. In case you are among them, this column could prove helpful to you, your gift recipients and many small local businesses.

For this year’s Small Business Saturday, a group of mostly female-owned businesses in Manoa has banded together to create its own mini-event, and it’s not the first rodeo for Hawaii Doggie Bakery owners Niki and Tasha Libarios.

Hawaii Doggie Bakery moved into Manoa Square two years ago, "and this is the third Small Business Saturday" the company has participated in, she said.

They will be joined by Sachie Yakuwa, owner of Three Dogs and a Girl grooming services; Kyoko Hyodo, owner of Green Mountain boutique; Erin Kanno Uehara, owner of Choco Le’a chocolatier; Mahina Akimoto, general manager of Morning Glass Coffee + Cafe; and Marianne Kim, owner and manager of Line & Dot Printing. Each will offer either freebies, gifts with purchase, discounts or other special deals Nov. 28, and all are participating in a stamp rally, which will win one lucky customer a special prize basket valued at close to $200.

One need only get a free stamp card, and get it stamped by each participating business, to be entered for a chance to win. No purchase is necessary for the stamp rally, though the small-business owners hope you will shop with them, of course, said Niki Libarios. Just a hint: It is a good idea to find and follow the social media accounts of the business, as there could be a treat in it for you.

The businesses are in walking distance of one another, and "Green Mountain is about five minutes away," Libarios said.

The businesses accept payments via Square, and Square accepts American Express, Libarios said.

Small Business Saturday was created to encourage people to do their holiday shopping at brick-and-mortar small local businesses on that day, as well as to eat out at locally owned restaurants. American Express, and the U.S. Small Business Administration, which supports the annual event, promote the use of social media hashtags for the occasion, including #SmallBizSat, #DineSmall and #ShowUsYourMenu. The hashtagging practice not only helps promote Small Business Saturday among social media users, but also helps those involved to track the success and popularity of the event afterward. These days, next to making money, analytics and data-gathering are crucial, or so it seems.

To help small businesses make the most of Small Business Saturday and the whole holiday season, the SBA on Tuesday at 8 a.m. Hawaii time will stage a live chat on Twitter. In addition to the SBA, the experts signed up to participate include representatives from American Express; mentors from SCORE, or the Service Corps of Retired Executives; Twitter; Yelp; and about a dozen others. The official hashtag for the free marketing discussion will be #SmallBizHoliday.

While Small Business Saturday is intended to support brick-and-mortar businesses, there are countless successful small businesses that don’t, and might never, have a permanent retail location, and craft fair season for them is well underway. The official Honolulu Star-Advertiser Holiday Craft Fair Calendar is pending publication. However, the Fall 2015 Craft Fair Calendar, linked herein, has tons of upcoming dates and locations of events where you can buy skillfully handcrafted gifts, clothing, quilts, tote bags, casserole carriers, jewelry, candies, snacks, jams, jellies and butters, and other goodies for your loved ones — or even for yourself (your columnist won’t judge).

“Buy Local” each Aloha Friday is about made-in-Hawaii products and the people who make them. Reach Erika Engle at 529-4303, erika@staradvertiser.com, or on Twitter as @erikaengle.