ROGERS, Ark. — Communities across the nation are shifting their holiday shopping to local businesses for Small Business Saturday.
The day was founded by American Express in 2010 and officially cosponsored by the Small Business Administration since 2011. It's estimated that since its founding, total reported U.S. spending has reached $201 billion.
Brandom Gengelbach of the Greater Bentonville Area Chamber of Commerce said, "It's an opportunity to support those small businesses. For us, small business is the engine of our economy. They really represent the heart and soul and energy of the community."
Kerbie Lansford of The Frame Shoppe is one of those entrepreneurs participating in this year's Small Business Saturday.
"I deal with a lot of unique items and memorabilia that might be special to somebody like you know. I do have the moment a special item that was purchased by a mom who has since passed away, and the husband is gifting it to his wife," Lansford.
In Downtown Rogers, Lansford helped organize a bingo of 25 businesses to shop at. To participate, one must visit five locations to shop and collect stamps. Once turned in, they'll then be entered for a chance to win a $700 gift basket of the businesses' items and gift certificates.
"Even if they don't come to me during that allotted game time, that they might seek me out on social media see my work, and say, oh, there's a frame shop downtown. I didn't know that, and come back at a later point," Lansford said.
"As a business owner like you know, our number one, my number one goal, is to make sure my customer is super happy, and in the case if they weren't, that we would immediately make it right. You don't have to worry about, where am I shipping this off to, how to return it. You come back in and you speak with us," she added.
According to an American Express Study, with every dollar spent at a small business in the US, 68 cents stays in the local community. Lansford and Gengelbach said that's one reason people should shop small.
"When someone comes in and buys from a local business owner, that is helping us keep providing for our family. It's providing a way for us to even give back to our own local community," Lansford said.
"To me, small business should be a focus every day, not just Saturday, but certainly it's a great way to draw attention on the importance that the role the small business role has in the community," Gengelbach said.
Saturday was only the kick-off for Rogers' Small Business Bingo. Shoppers have until December 11 to drop off their completed bingo cards at Honey Comb Kitchen, The Frame Shoppe, or the Rogers Lowell Chamber.
