Buy Local Saturday

York businesses promote 'Buy Local Saturday' to holiday shoppers
CHRISTINA KAUFFMAN The York Dispatch
Updated: 11/21/2011 11:07:36 AM EST

While shoppers flock to big box stores in the suburbs on Black Friday, downtown York merchants also are hoping to draw some crowds.
Independent store owners have joined to promote the concept of a "Buy Local Saturday" to remind people to support smaller stores. Shops and restaurants are offering specials throughout the weekend.
"This should be the stop between Black Friday, when everybody goes crazy, and Cyber Monday," said Heather Klinefelter, who owns Growing Up Green at 266 W. Market St. "Between big box shopping and online shopping, try to support local businesses. We want to encourage people ... to take a look at products we have and see that you can get big deals from smaller places and not just the chains."
Klinefelter said she's closing shop and doesn't plan to compete with national retailers on Black Friday, but she'll be one of several merchants having sales and special activities on Saturday.
Kimman's Gifts owner Caroline Morris said her store at 57 N. Beaver St. draws a crowd on Black Friday, but she doesn't intend to compete with larger retailers.
"We don't even look at it that way," she said, adding that what her shop offers is different from bigger stores.
The owner is on-site, there's a unique selection of gifts that are wrapped free, and employees know the customers and the products well, she said.
The store opens early, 7 a.m., on Black Friday, and people typically line up outside at about 6 a.m. for a Vera Bradley special that's offered every year.
This year, the first person in line gets a basket filled with $100 worth of "goodies" from the store, and the next 10 get gift certificates.
Saturday special: On Saturday, her store will be one of several downtown to participate in American Express' "Shop Small Day," under which people who spend $25 in a participating shop get a $25 credit on their card's monthly statement.
"It's basically a gift from American Express," she said.
Participating shops will have a logo posted, but customers must first register by calling the toll-free number on their credit card, she said.
At Sunrise Soap Co., down the street from Kimman's at 29 N. Beaver St., owner Chris Clark said Saturday is typically a bigger day for her store because shoppers look outside York City on Black Friday.
Her Saturday specials are contingent on the shoppers' good will. People who bring in a canned good for an area food bank get a free "bath fizzy." A monetary donation to the food bank will get shoppers half the donation in store credit for body care products, she said.
At neighboring Sweet Melissa's Dream, 51 N. Beaver St., owner Melissa Grove said she'll be running sales -- such as buy-one get-one-free organic cotton T-shirts -- and offering "secrets and surprises" for shoppers.
She said focusing on customer service and the uniqueness of each shop makes downtown holiday shopping "a little more special" than, perhaps, a mall.
"Buying local helps keep money in your city," she said. "And as much as I love Target, they don't know me."
Downtown restaurants are also offering specials throughout the weekend, with eateries such as Mudhook Brewery and White Rose Restaurant Bar & Grill offering specials on gift certificates and other deals.
-- Reach Christina Kauffman at 505-5436, ckauffman@yorkdispatch.com, or follow her on Twitter at @dispatchbizwiz.