Local businesses hope to cash in on Small Business Saturday

Black Friday may be tomorrow and Cyber Monday is next week, but local business owners want you to remember that if you’re looking for some unbeatable bargains, Small Business Saturday is this weekend.

Restaurants, boutiques and other locally owned businesses in Downtown Bowling Green are gearing up for what employees hope will be a profitable Saturday.

According to the 2017 Small Business Saturday Consumer Insights Survey, last year, 108 million shoppers spent nearly $13 billion on Small Business Saturday.

Consumers spent most of their dollars last year at locally owned restaurants, followed by clothing stores, food stores and coffee shops.

Ron Bunch, the president and CEO of the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce, says his organization is assisting local businesses spread the word about shopping small this weekend. 

"We’ve done a good bit of social media outreach, we’ve visited a number of our businesses and handed out materials that match with the Small Business Saturday promotion and we are just really calling attention to those, so more people will look to do business with them," said Bunch.

According to American Express, since it started in 2010, customers have spent an estimated $85 billion total at independent retailers and restaurants on Small Business Saturday.