Best Bets: Shopping Small Business Saturday

DULUTH — With deals extending throughout the holiday season, the concept of “Black Friday” as a major shopping inducement is more a concept than an actual point on the calendar. Never mind the quaint conceit of “Cyber Monday,” when shoppers supposedly dodged their bosses to scout deals online using their high-speed office internet connections.

Small Business Saturday, on the other hand, is thriving as an opportunity for entrepreneurs to invite people to bundle up and support brick-and-mortar retailers in their community. Here in the Zenith City, that makes for a bustling shopping day.

Downtown Duluth

maintains a list of businesses offering sales and special events. Saturday is also the final day of voting in the annual holiday window display contest. Ballots are available at participating retailers, which aren’t too hard to spot. Voters not only get to exercise their civic duty: They’re entered for a chance to win “one of many gift cards,” according to a news release.

Holiday markets, which bring seasonal cheer as well as opportunities to support local makers, abound on Small Business Saturday.

One is taking place at the American Indian Community Housing Organization, which is hosting “25 small, local and regional Indigenous and BIPOC businesses, artists, entrepreneurs, food producers, jewelry and fashion designers” at an event called

Biboon Bimaadiziwin: Winter Good Life.

Clint Austin / 2023 File / Duluth Media Group

Bent Paddle Brewing is hosting an

Art on Tap

makers market, with several “small, local artisans and crafters” on hand throughout the afternoon, followed by live music from Barefoot Bluegrass.

Down the street, Ursa Minor Brewing invites people within tree-schlepping distance to pick one out from a selection provided by Duluth’s Hoffbauer Tree Farm at a

Trees and Tinsel

event — handy if you find that a little hazy IPA helps to clarify your opinion on which tree will look best in your living room.

Nearby Warrior Brewing is also hosting a

Winter Market

, with 30-plus vendors.

Elsewhere in Lincoln Park, author Chris Monroe (“Monkey with a Tool Belt”) will be at Duluth Pottery, Tile and Gallery for a

Shop Small

event featuring gifts from artists including the team at Warrior Printress Letterpress and Design. (Ask them about the “Xena” Christmas episode.)

Siiviis Gallery, in Canal Park, is taking the occasion to unveil a new collection of artwork under the theme

Northern Nights.

“There will be a collection of original paintings, ceramics and jewelry from over 30 artists,” explains the gallery.

Meanwhile, Lizzards Art Gallery downtown will be throwing down — complete with DJ — at its second annual

Small Business Social.

Several dozen local and regional artists will have “bite-size original art,” each piece selling for $150 or less.

Out west,

Zenith Bookstore

will be drilling down with authors Anna Faro Henderson (“Core Samples”) and Gerald J. Niemi (“The Breeding Birds of Minnesota”). The event will also feature cookies and hot cocoa — “Mike and Jen’s of course.”

Steve Kuchera / 2021 File / Duluth Media Group

Miller Hill Mall may not be the first place that comes to mind when you think of small business, but a

Shop Small at the Mall

event on Saturday and Sunday will feature handmade crafts as well as direct-sale vendors.

Across the harbor, Thirsty Pagan Brewing is hosting the first in a series of three

Holiday Market

events, with live music and Santa Claus appearances alongside “numerous local vendors.”

Clint Austin / 2022 File / Duluth Media Group

After all that shopping, you’ll be ready to kick back and relax. Earth Rider Brewing’s Cedar Lounge has you covered with a

North Country Holiday Revue

featuring several music acts bringing a festive spirit to the taproom.

Arts and entertainment reporter Jay Gabler joined the Duluth News Tribune in 2022. His previous experience includes eight years as a digital producer at The Current (Minnesota Public Radio), four years as theater critic at Minneapolis alt-weekly City Pages, and six years as arts editor at the Twin Cities Daily Planet. He’s a co-founder of pop culture and creative writing blog The Tangential; he’s also a member of the National Book Critics Circle and the Minnesota Film Critics Association. You can reach him at jgabler@duluthnews.com or 218-409-7529.