Local shops in Cleveland say they’re ready for a boost as Small Business Saturday brings shoppers out.
CLEVELAND — Cleveland businesses say they’re stocked, staffed, and ready for one of the biggest shopping days of their season as Small Business Saturday kicks off.
Susan Rozman, owner of Fiddlehead Gallery in the Larchmere district of Buckeye-Shaker, expects a strong turnout.
“I’m excited that everybody that needed to stay home today did so and rested and didn’t come out because it was so treacherous,” Rozman said Friday. “I’m expecting it to be explosive tomorrow.”
Rozman has owned the gallery for 13 years and works directly with local artists.
“It’s items that are personalized, and we kind of curtail it and critique it to what our audience is looking for,” she told 3News.
Just a few doors down, a new collaborative vintage market is also preparing for a busy weekend. Monarch Boutique brings together several small vendors under one roof.
“Basically it’s a collab of different vintage vendors,” owner Karla Henderson said. “Tracy (Hilbert) and I are the main people that got together — we’re on the first floor. And then downstairs, we have six, seven-plus vendors.”
Many of those vendors are offering discounts for the shopping holiday.
“We have 15% off all purchases,” Henderson said. “Most of the vendors — not all of them — bust most of the vendors are offering 15% off.”
Henderson and Hilbert say community support has been essential as they work to build foot traffic and grow their customer base.
“We really rely on the people that come back to our businesses,” said Hilbert, owner of Eclectic Eccentric. “We’ve both established a pretty solid brand and a solid customer base, and now we have some new folks coming in too.”
With the holiday season underway, they say they’re ready for the boost Small Business Saturday brings.
“We’re just excited, and we want everybody else to feel the energy and feel excitement that’s going on here,” Henderson said.
