Vermonters shop local for Small Business Saturday

BRISTOL, Vt. (WCAX) – The shopping didn’t stop after Black Friday, as Vermonters all over the state spent their Saturday shopping local.

“Looking forward to getting some treats for my son. Maybe picking up some gifts for my sister,” Nikole Pool of Monkton said.

Nikole Pool spent Small Business Saturday shopping local at the Bristol Holley Jolly holiday market.

She says she’s going get all her gifts from Vermont businesses this year to support her community.

“Bigger corporations are making decisions and supporting things politically that I don’t align with. So I would much prefer to boycott that and support someone local. I was excited to see this come about in Bristol,” Pool said.

This is the second year for the holiday market at the Bristol town hall.

There are about twenty vendors showcasing their products, many handmade.

Organizers say they try to invite businesses that may only have a website, and not an actual store front, like pottery maker Hannah Cieri.

“It gives a lot more opportunity for direct consumer sales. Creates more opportunity for relationship. You also get a lot of feedback about your products as people interact with them,” Hannah Cieri of Cieri Fabrications said.

And many at the winter market say, with inflation, might as well shop local.

“Actually I have seen a big increase in our group of friends that are actually really into more interested in shopping local than online, or any of the big box stores this year,” Lindsay Miles of Monkton said.

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