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Want your holiday shopping to support local NJ stores? Try Small Business Saturday

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Want your holiday shopping to support local NJ stores? Try Small Business Saturday

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Black Friday is upon us, and that means the official start of the holiday shopping season — if you haven’t taken advantage of any of the early deals already. 

You can shop online, using such sites as Amazon or Etsy. You can head over to the mall, be it Garden State Plaza, American Dream, Willowbrook Mall or Rockaway Townsquare. Maybe the department stores and strip malls have what you need.

But you can also shop locally on Main Street, at a small business, and help the local economy. In fact, after Black Friday is Small Business Saturday, which falls on Nov. 30. 

There actually are tons of small businesses in New Jersey. In fact, as of last year they made up 99.6% of New Jersey businesses, said the U.S. Small Business Administration. 

Story continues below photo gallery.

By the numbers

  • Small businesses employ up to 1.9 million people, or 48.8% of the New Jersey workforce.
  • 168,060 businesses have one to 19 employees.
  • 21,705 businesses have 20 to 499 employees 
  • $3 billion in loans in 2021 went to businesses with up to $1 million in revenue. 

Bankrate reported this month that 50% of Americans will shop on Small Business Saturday. 

“Small business is about creating value, by the entrepreneur’s passion [and] love of the product and desire to serve the local community,” said Vincent Vicari, who heads the Bergen County office of the New Jersey Small Business Development Center at Ramapo College in Mahwah. “And the big-box stores can’t do it, and Amazon and Overstock and all of those big online stores can’t do it. 

“The entrepreneur adds their personal touch, value and passion to the product,” Vicari said. 

But they don’t necessarily win at price, Bankrate analyst Ted Rossman noted, and that has registered with “inflation-weary shoppers.” 

More Americans felt that larger businesses offered lower prices, better inventory and convenience, while smaller retailers did better on customer service, unique gift ideas and product quality, Bankrate found. 

New Jersey downtowns have “revitalized”

New Jersey downtowns saw an exodus in the 1980s of residents, shoppers and, most important, their dollars to suburban shopping malls, said Marc Kalan, a marketing professor at Rutgers University. 

“Many downtowns — people were abandoning them,” Kalan said. “They weren’t doing very much. Restaurants weren’t open.” 

Malls and downtowns have since swapped places — with lower-performing malls falling by the wayside — as the baby boomer generation aged out and millennials and Gen Z became the dominant economic driver. 

“The modern customer wants to be near vital downtowns,” Kalan continued. “Downtowns have become revitalized. Today’s towns like South Orange, Maplewood, Montclair, similar towns up in Bergen County, have become exciting.” 

For instance, Hackensack’s downtown, which has undergone a dramatic transformation in recent years as new apartment buildings have been constructed and businesses have opened, was recently named a “Great Downtown” by the American Planners Association.

What are North Jersey’s Main Streets doing?

Downtowns across North Jersey are offering unique events during the holiday shopping season — and particularly on Nov. 30 — to promote small businesses on Main Street. 

Meanwhile, American Express is showcasing individual businesses taking part in Small Business Saturday. 

Closter: Holiday shopping event at the Closter Senior Center at 4 Lewis St., on Saturday from noon to 4 p.m. Featuring festive decor, treats and handcrafted wares from an array of local vendors.

Fair Lawn: Small Business Saturday events throughout the city. Free tote bag giveaway from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Radburn Plaza Building, 14-25 Plaza Road. Holiday pop-up shop featuring local artists from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Railyard Tavern, 14-26 Plaza Road North and 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Dutch House Tavern, 24-07 Fair Lawn Ave.

Englewood: Though this is not part of Small Business Saturday, Englewood is putting on its first annual French American Holiday Market on Saturday, Dec. 7, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at 85 W. Demarest Ave. Hosted by the French American Academy. Featuring holiday gifts, a bouncy castle, a ball pit, slime-making, magic shows, live music, French culinary delicacies, knitting, clay-making and pastry-making.

Hopatcong: Also not part of Small Business Saturday, but meant to highlight Main Street businesses. Hopatcong is putting on a holiday market at Modick Park at 28 Hopatchung Road, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 7. Featuring over 50 retail and food vendors. Rain date is Sunday, Dec. 8.

Mahwah: Holiday Craft & Vendor Fair at Mahwah Elks Lodge 1941 on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., at 1 Foxwood Ave., Mahwah (enter 1 Foxwood Ave., Suffern, New York, on GPS).

Montclair: Small Business Saturday event from noon to 4 p.m. at the Wellmont Arts Plaza at 5 Seymour St. Pet-friendly event featuring kids’ crafts, a gnome-making station, holiday carolers and raffles. The first 1,590 people will receive a Shop Small tote bag. Guests will include Santa, Buddy the Elf, the Grinch, Snow Princess and a Hula-Hooping Elf. 

Meanwhile, the Montclair Flea Holiday Market is debuting on Nov. 30 at the Lackawanna Terminal at 1 Lackawanna Plaza in Montclair and running every Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m. to p.m. through Jan. 19, 2025. It will feature local vendors, artisans and small businesses.

Nutley: Participating small businesses will take part in the sixth annual egg hunt on Saturday to encourage residents to buy local. Plastic eggs will be filled with “fantastic deals and prizes” from local businesses. Businesses with a physical storefront and online-only businesses will be participating. 

South Orange: Street fair on Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., at Village Plaza, 20-32 Village Plaza, South Orange, featuring local businesses, craftspeople, artisans and vendors. Outdoor ice skating available at Spiotta Park for $10 for a 30-minute session. 

Daniel Munoz covers business, consumer affairs, labor and the economy for NorthJersey.com and The Record. 

Email: munozd@northjersey.com; Twitter:@danielmunoz100 and Facebook

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