If your shopping plans revolve around mosh pits at the big box stores, you are cheating yourself.

Relax on the day after Thanksgiving. Give up the elbowing crowds at the big stores that have been knocking you eyes out with full page ads.

Enjoy your leftover turkey. Then, when you’re well rested and rarin’ to go, join the next big shopping day, Saturday, November 26, now known as Small Business Saturday.

You’ll get good deals and contests from local businesses, Facebook, and American Express while avoiding the crush of Black Friday.

Small Business Saturday is the day you can shop ‘til you drop with the added benefit of strengthening your community’s economy and character. It’s a tradition — as of last year — designed by American Express to support small businesses. This year, Google, FedEx, and Clear Channel have joined Facebook as partners, along with a very long list of associations and businesses.

Hip, hip, hooray! Small businesses are carving out a niche in the post-Thanksgiving shopping frenzy!

As the sponsors say, “If we all shop small, it will be huge.”

Huge for whom? For the economy since small businesses tend to keep money in the local area; for the neighborhood because it’s those small businesses that make your neighborhood different from the one across the park; and for you, because those small businesses will be offering great deals.

• American Express offers a $25 statement credit when you make a purchase at a small business. Register your card before you check out at the cash register.
• FedEx is distributing $1 million worth of $25 gift cards to be used at small businesses on Nov. 26.
• A list of local businesses on Facebook shows you the many and varied shopping options that could make your shopping more enjoyable and your gifts more memorable. What’s more, many of the business are offering coupons and discounts if you “like” them.
• Participating businesses will be offering their own specials and discounts.

And lest you think you are going to have fewer choices, think again. How about lovely (just look at the pictures!) treats for your holiday party? Happily, you don’t have to be in Manhattan to get treats or to participate in community-oriented, deal-rich holiday shopping spree. It extends from Peoria to Boston, from Dixon, CA to St. Paul, MN.

This year, Small Business Saturday will host live events in 15 U.S. cities on November 26. From holiday celebrations to block parties, the events will take place in: Boston,Charlotte, Chicago, Cincinnati, Fort Worth, Detroit, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Scottsdale, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington DC.

How’s that for a growing movement? Isn’t nice to be part of something that makes your community better?

So skip the blackest of shopping days and start your holidays close to home, in the stores that make your community the place you want to be.

How will you support small businesses this holiday shopping season?

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