Black Friday is now nearly as ubiquitous a holiday as Thanksgiving itself. And indeed, the annual celebration of retail shopping discounts seems to encroach on Turkey Day more and more every year, with some big chains opening their doors this year at 9 p.m., to start the all-night shopping early.

We also have Cyber Monday, a chance for online shoppers to get in on the holiday deals. Both of these events provide a substantial boost to the retail economy and to the stock market.

One event potentially overlooked on this holiday weekend of bargains, family, football and more bargains, though, is Small Business Saturday. It’s a relatively new addition to the Thanksgiving weekend calendar, but one that could grow into something just as valuable as Black Friday or Cyber Monday.

The day was invented by American Express in 2010 as a way to promote its small business account holders. The company advertised the event heavily on Facebook and Twitter, spawning the now-popular hashtag #SmallBusinessSaturday, as a way for holiday shoppers to support local and independent retailers after Black Friday’s focus on big-box stores. The event has spread in the past two years, as many local business organizations endorsed and promoted the idea.

This year, Small Business Saturday generated $5.5 billion in sales at local retailers, according to a survey by the National Federation of Independent Business and American Express. Even President Obama took part in the event at an independent bookstore in Virginia.

The growth of Small Business Saturday as a complement to Black Friday and Cyber Monday is a positive development for our economy, and certainly one that will help businesses here in Gig Harbor. This is a town full of independent, brick-and-mortar businesses that perfectly fit the image of what Small Business Saturday is supposed to be about.

Thanksgiving weekend became the busiest shopping period of the year for obvious reasons: as many people have the day after Thanksgiving off of work, and as Christmas looms only a month away, it provides the ideal opportunity to make a significant dent in your gift-buying list. The advent of Small Business Saturday, then, creates an added incentive to fill more of that gift list with products from small, local stores.

Some items on many people’s lists are most easily and affordably found at big-box stores, with electronics, always among the most popular gifts, as a prominent example. And Black Friday does provide an important boost to local economies, albeit along with some long shifts for those chains’ employees.

But spreading your holiday shopping between big box and smaller stores can make your gifts more diverse and personal — why not an iPad in a hand-knitted case, for example? — as well as keep more of your spending money in the local economy. Gig Harbor’s small business owners, whether in downtown, Uptown or elsewhere, largely depend on the patronage of their neighbors to stay open and to give the town much of its character.

Holiday shopping can also be about more than just the products themselves. An event like Small Business Saturday encourages people to venture into their community and interact with their neighbors, whether they be fellow shoppers or shop owners. An important part of the holiday season is, or should be, a spirit of fellowship and good will, and events that bring the community together are valuable ways to encourage this spirit.

Small Business Saturday has, of course, come and gone, as has the entire annual weekend of discounts and sales. But the idea behind the event isn’t limited to one day. Gig Harbor is blessed with a bounty of small business shopping options every day of the year, and this upcoming month is among their most important times.

The holiday season is the lifeblood of many businesses that rely on community interest in purchasing their gifts close to home. If you missed or were unaware of Small Business Saturday, fear not — there are many stores all around town that will be happy to help you with your holiday shopping no matter what day it is.