Downtown St. Cloud Gets A Boost From Small Business Saturday

ST. CLOUD (WJON News) -- For 15 years the day after Black Friday has had special meaning for independent businesses. Small Business Saturday started as a way to gain exposure and inspire people to support shops within their communities.

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Owner of Granite City Comics Tim Schulte says the day is a nice way for people to get out and support them:

"It's a good boost, it gets people into the store and kind of supports the local businesses instead of the big box stores all the time and kind of a good boost for business downtown."

Schulte says small businesses are a nice way for people to take a break from the hustle and bustle of shopping at the big box stores too.

Books Revisited has been in downtown St. Cloud for almost 30 years and Owner Jon Lee says the day is also a way for them to give back to their loyal customers:

"I mean we lean into that a little bit and we appreciate our customers so much, the support they give us throughout the year and so you know sort of on this day, it's a day to maybe remember your small businesses and it's also for a lot of businesses it's the kick-off to the holiday season."

Lee says Small Business Saturday does drive traffic to downtown businesses and there are a lot of bright spots downtown. Small Business Saturday is expected to generate $17-billion dollars in revenue nationwide.

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