Small Business Saturday — a way to shop and keep your money here

Who knew?

There’s a store in downtown Tacoma where you can buy a piece of handmade jewelry featuring the jawbone of a raccoon.

There’s another store that will sell you either 1950s movie posters or tiny figures of camels, swimmers, house pets, nuns and many others depicted in a scale of 1:87.

They’ll both be open this Saturday — also known as Small Business Saturday.

Thanks to the help of American Express with its “Shop Small” campaign, the day after Black Friday is now being promoted as the day when local people should spend their money at non-chain, neighborhood shops.

In a proclamation signed by Gov. Jay Inslee and designating Saturday in celebration of small businesses, they are called “the backbone of our economy, and the glue that holds communities together.”

For U.S. Small Business Administration Regional Administrator Calvin Goings, a Saturday recognition of small businesses offers a chance to “travel outside your comfort zone — and away from your computer screen to discover a unique neighborhood shopping district with some trendy local stores.”

In downtown Tacoma, the idea seems to be working.

“People are getting more aware of it,” said Angel Bennett, manager of Learning Sprout, a children’s shop on lower Pacific Avenue.

“I try to tell people how hard it is to compete online,” she said earlier this week. “Having people shop locally helps us stay in business. It’s helping us have a Christmas. We’ve tried something every Small Business Saturday. We’ve brought music, we did arts and crafts and this year we decided to give people a good go on holiday shopping.”

Learning Sprout on Saturday will be offering 25 percent to 50 percent off on about 150 selected items, Bennett said.

Up on Commerce Street in the Theater District, the shop called Inspired will be offering what owner Julia Solovjev calls “a big old party.”

This year she expects the day to offer again what it offered last year.

“A lot of new people came in into the store, people who value something outside of the big stores,” she said. “This is a great time to show their support. That’s what keeps us in business. This is the kickoff. It opens the season.”

At Inspired, look for tarot and interpretive readings, plus “aura pictures,” crystals, art, skin-care products and what Solovjev calls “New Age gifts” and “affirmative jewelry.”

Small Business Saturday, she said, “is a great time to remind people that there’s something beyond the average and the norm of the mass market.”

“It’s an opportunity to put money back into your local community and support local businesses,” said Julia Jones, owner of Le Noir Bazaar.

day to welcome new customers, she said.

“It allows people to explore areas they wouldn’t usually frequent. That’s really what helps us. It gives us more exposure,” she said.

At Le Noir Bazaar on Saturday, look for “fashion for the modern goddess,” Solovjev said. Look for “everyday wear for the girl who wants more edge in her wardrobe,” “a rock-and-roll edge” and genres that include “corporate Goth,” “dark Victorian,” “dark wonderland” and “dark fairy Bohemian,” among others.

“We help style a lot of Tacoma’s young drag-queen community,” she said.

And don’t neglect the raccoon jawbone in a brooch, or something with a fox vertebrae.

Small Business Saturday, Solovjev said, “usually helps us more with exposure than the bottom line.”

Across Commerce Street, Elizabeth Archambeault at Anew Thyme will be selling vintage clothing.

Small Business Saturday, Archambeault said, is becoming more and more popular.

“I think the consumer doesn’t understand the importance of small business,” she said. “It’s the lifeblood of a city. The money stays here. And when you come in, you’ll probably speak with the owner.”

You can speak with owners such as Philip Whitt and Charlotte Emrys at What? Shoppe, just a few doors north of Anew Thyme.

Here’s where you can find those miniscule swimmers best fit for a model railroad set, plus vintage movie posters, Mexican folk art and plastic model kits of well-remembered automobiles.

Last year, Small Business Saturday generated “traffic and sales both,” said Whitt. “It seemed that people were specifically looking for small shops to patronize. Anytime we can develop customers, that’s more important than sales,” he said.

This story was originally published November 27, 2015 at 2:23 PM with the headline "Small Business Saturday — a way to shop and keep your money here."