For a lot of shoppers, it’s a way to get away from the hustle and bustle of shopping malls and return to mom-and-pop stores with more of a personal touch.
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Shoppers enjoy Small Business Saturday in Takoma Park
Right between Black Friday and Cyber Monday is Small Business Saturday.
For a lot of shoppers, it’s a way to get away from the hustle and bustle of shopping malls and return to mom-and-pop stores with more of a personal touch.
WTOP spoke to many people in Takoma Park, Maryland, who enjoyed a pretty but chilly day browsing stores on Carroll Avenue.
“Takoma Park is all about small businesses,” said resident Diana Coats. “So much cute stuff, coffee shops, little shops with cute trinkets.”
Two people who were beaming as they walked by K&B Bridal and Tux were Claire Sleigh and her mother, Ann Greiner.
“Was just trying on some wedding dresses,” Sleigh said.
It was important to Sleigh to return home from Ithaca, New York, and pick the dress that she will wear for her “I do” next July from a small business like K&B Bridal and Tux.
“I felt like there was a real personal touch with the people there,” Sleigh said.
That feeling is no accident. Melinda Thompson, the boutique lead at the bridal shop, said the store has what it’s named “connection calls” with brides who make reservations so boutique managers can get to know them before they walk into the shop.
“We really put extra care into making sure that the guest experience is as amazing as possible,” Thompson said.
Takoma Park is known in the D.C. region to be an eclectic and artsy neighborhood, thanks in some part to the small businesses that line Laurel Avenue.
One of those shops is Laurel Leaf.
“This is a small business that is a collective of three different businesses that came together to form one store,” said co-owner Heather Rowe.
The store sells used books, plants and vintage furniture and decor, and Rowe said each owner has an expertise in one of those things.
“Everything is very curated, it’s not something that you’re going to find every day at one of the big box stores,” said Rowe.
Small Business Saturday is huge for Laurel Leaf. Rowe said sales can be up 50% compared to other Saturdays.
A lot of shoppers walking in and out of the store were also checking out the Small Business Saturday pop-up market outside.
Some entrepreneurs and artisans may not have a brick-and-mortar store where they can sell their goods, but thanks to the Takoma Collective, they were able to on Saturday.
Under small tents, you could find colorful homemade baskets, storage containers made out of recycled plastic from Katie Leary Sebastian’s ixöq fair trade store.
Jeannette Mende was bundled up in her coat, representing her family‘s business Boso Kitchen.
Mende said the business, which sells soup and nuts, got started by her mother from the teacher appreciation gifts she gave out while Mende was in school.
Another business that started by chance was Mia Montgomery’s Bianca + Jean.
The business, which is named after Montgomery’s two daughters, started when the former physical therapist started making decorative face masks during the pandemic. Fast forward to today, and making items like bags and pouches is now her full-time job.
A former middle-school art teacher was selling her original art works under the tent with Sebastian.
“I use mixed-medium art that I incorporate into my canvases, so there’s embroidery techniques, beading, yarn, string over acrylics,” Marie Darling said.
Darling’s originals sell between $50 and $5,000.
Darling said it brings her joy knowing that one of her pieces will hang in someone’s home.
“I love it, that’s why I do it,” Darling said.
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