Small Business Saturday discounts, promotions available across Chicago this weekend

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Chicago area resident Danielle Moyer is thinking small when it comes to tackling that big holiday shopping list this year.

"It's just nice knowing where my money is going, just helping people in my community, the shop owners, the employees and so it stays local," said Moyer.

The North Sider is among other like-minded consumers taking to neighborhoods shops and businesses for this weekend's Small Business Saturday.

Store manager Dena Pavlovic's urban general store is one of many participating businesses in Chicago's Lincoln Square neighborhood.

This day is like really exciting but when you see people lining up it really gets the adrenaline flowing and they came in like ready to shop," said Pavlovic.

The novelty store joins others located on Lincoln Avenue hoping to get people to shop locally.

The Urban Pooch is hoping everyone is in the spirit. "One of our favorites is Bosco and Roxy's Advent calendar," said Urban Pooch co-founder Ed Kaczmarek.

Millions of consumers are expected to shop early and often as the country moves towards the post-pandemic. Rudy Flores, the executive director of the Lincoln Square Ravenswood Chamber of Commerce said he hopes they spend at mom and pop shops.

The group hosted its annual holiday-themed shop local event.

Businesses definitely struggled during the pandemic and we did see some of those closures and people have been really supporting and coming out and shopping local and so right now sales great, but they also need to make some of the revenue up that they lost," said Flores.

Small Business Saturday is a national business initiative sandwiched between Black Friday and Cyber Monday. It encourages consumers to support small businesses by shopping locally during the big kickoff weekend to the holiday shopping season.

"It not only raises the economic standard of our community but it encourages small businesses to keep going," said Chukwuka Okofo of the Black Star Project.

In the city's Bronzeville community, neighborhood business Absolutley Anything Essential and the Black Star Project sponsored a pop-up shop in support of dozens of Black-owned businesses. This event is now in its seventh year.

"Small businesses are the heart of the community. When you pour into a small business, you're pouring into family business's legacy," said Kenya Renee, owner of Absolutely Anything Essential.

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