Retailers hope the third time will be a charm as they prepare for Small Business Saturday, the shopping season's celebration of small boutiques and mom-and-pop stores.
In 2010, Small Business Saturday was a nonevent for customers of Lavish Body and Home in downtown Scranton. Lavish was busy, but no one really knew about Small Business Saturday.
Last year, Lavish co-owner Jonathan Chernes said a good number of people came to the store solely because it was Small Business Saturday. This year, more people are talking about it, he said.
"Merchants have gotten together, there is buzz in social media, and ever more advertising on television," Mr. Chernes said.
Lavish's Saturday special will be three free bars of Lavish's organic soap for a customer spending $100 or more. The event has been promoted by American Express, whose customers can get a credit of up to $25 for using their card at participating merchants.
As the event has caught on, it has been embraced by the downtown business holiday planning committee of Scranton Tomorrow as the kick off of the holiday shopping season, said Scranton Tomorrow Executive Director Leslie Collins. The group sponsors a holiday window decoration showcase starting Monday with awards announced during the Scranton city tree lighting on Dec. 6.
Nada Gilmartin of Nada & Co., an upscale women's apparel and accessories store, is ambivalent about Small Business Saturday. To the extent that it gets people to consider and visit local business, she thinks it's largely positive. At the same time, it's a "gimmick" she said, and a promotion for American Express.
"I look to offer good service and price every day," she said. "I'm not a gimmick person. We want customers to visit us not because we are small or local, but because we are good."
Ms. Gilmartin was part of a fundraising effort to purchase large, lighted snowflakes to hang on utility poles, and was spending most of the week working with Scranton Department of Public Works employees to have them affixed and lit.
Contact the writer: dfalchek@timesshamrock.com