Tis the Season to Support Local Businesses

Black Friday kicks off the start of the holiday shopping season with deals at big chain stores and, three days from now, Cyber Monday will encourage shoppers to spend their gift-buying dollars at online shopping sites. In the midst of all that, smaller businesses — including those in our area — will be striving to get people in their communities to support them by doing as much gift buying as possible locally.

“We absolutely support Small Business Saturday and promote it via social media. That’s part of our mission,” said Kim Collora, Executive Director of the CanyonLake Area Chamber of Commerce, who also personally backs the ideas behind this program designed to promote smaller stores. “I live out here and I work out here, so when I have to go Christmas shopping I check out the little boutiques that we have out here. We are a small community supporting each other and I think that’s important to do.”

First observed in 2010, Small Business Saturday is held two days after Thanksgiving and is a counterpart to Black Friday and Cyber Monday that encourages holiday shoppers to patronize small and local brick-and-mortar businesses. It was initially organized by entities that included the National Trust for Historic Preservation and American Express, and continues to be supported by the latter organization and many local politicians and small business groups throughout the country.

One Canyon Lake store that participates in Small Business Saturday is Bad Girlz of Texas, “a funky and eclectic boutique with something for everyone” that opened up in Sattler about eight years ago.

“Our local community really does support us,” said owner Andie Morgan (shown above right). “We wouldn’t have been here this long if not, and the locals have been fabulous. We’ve had people come in here on Small Business Saturday and say, ‘It’s important to support local business, so I’m shopping here.’”

Because the weekend after Thanksgiving tends to be a good one for her store anyway, Morgan said, she has never before held sale then but decided to this year.

“When you come to the counter with your purchases Friday through Sunday you can pick a card from our discount tree and it will have a discount of 10% to 50% off,” Morgan said. “There are three or four 40% cards, two or three 50% ones, and a lot for 15%, 20%, 30%, and 25%.”

“Canyon Lake has been wonderful and I’m trying to support those who have supported me,” Morgan said of her motivation. There are a number of ways she already does that, to include throwing a customer appreciation party with free food, drinks, and music the first Sunday of every month.

“We also usually give away something. For November we gave away free 2018 calendars, sometimes we’ll do a 75% off clearance, one time we gave away pairs of sunglasses,” Morgan said. “It’s to give back, and to support local music.” Twice a year, she said, the store also has a big clearance sale and then donates everything that is left to causes that have included the battered women’s shelter in New Braunfels and Wimberley flood relief.

CanyonLake Ace Hardware in Sattler is another local business that will have special deals this weekend, to include coupons people can use to get discounts on their purchases.

“We feel very close to our community and have a lot of interaction with it, and I feel like they’re very supportive of us,” said Store Manager Lyndy Sherman. “We’re having something on Black Friday, and then on Saturday and Sunday there’s a save $10 coupon.”

Many other businesses around Canyon Lake will also be doing special things for the weekend, so consider saving some gas, sticking close to home, and checking out what they have got going on — and, in the process, supporting our local community! 

This story originally appeared in the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung newspaper on Friday, November 24, 2017, and I am re-posting it here in support of Small Business Saturday.