The official way to shop local



Small Business Saturday reminds us of the prime shopping opportunities right in our own backyard. Not only do the small businesses where we work, live, and play offer numerous gift-giving possibilities, they are hands-on and ready to complete our shopping list with quality, thoughtful gifts.

Every year on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, the Shop Small movement energizes small business owners to prepare for customers in every way possible. That means business owners are ready for you to shop at their stores! Fivestars, the nation’s largest rewards program for local business, posed a question years ago that has stuck with me to this day. “Imagine your neighborhood or city without any of its small, local businesses.

Coffee shops, hair and nail salons, corner stores, spas, boutique clothing stores, consignment shops, restaurants, craft stores, bars, gift shops, pet stores, and more – all gone. What would be left? What would the streets look like?” Small businesses are important. According to data from the U.S. Small Business Administration, there are 33.3 million small businesses across the country, making up 99.9% of total U.S. firms. These figures also show that there are 61.6 million people who work at a small business, making up 45.9% of all U.S. employees as of 2023. So why support small businesses, especially for the 15th Small Business Saturday on November 30th? First, it feels good. Yes, it is easy to tickle the keyboard and place an order from an unknown source that will arrive at your door in an unmarked brown cardboard box. But meeting a store owner who spent time and thought curating unique and wonderful products, and knowing your purchase made a difference to that person’s business, family, and future, has so much more meaning and impact.



If that is not enough motivation to shop small, think of the community benefits you are providing. According to Fivestars, tax money generated by local sales is used to support public schools, parks, roads, and sidewalks, as well as fund public service workers, like firefighters and police. Your local purchase is an investment in your very own community. Furthermore, when you shop locally, most of the money generated will be recirculated locally. That is a win-win situation.

Small Business Saturday is serious business for the Carlsbad Village Association. Supporting downtown Carlsbad’s brick-andmortar businesses is what we do every day. But on this day, we celebrate!

Please join us in Carlsbad Village on Saturday, November 30th, 2024 from 11am to 4pm for live music, shopping and dining discounts, and dozens of chances to win big. And we mean big!

The Carlsbad Village Association will be giving away $2,000 worth of restaurant gift cards to lucky winners, as well as gift baskets and fun experiences too. You could walk away with a $100 gift card to Nick’s on State (voted the “Best of” Taste of Carlsbad Village 2024 by event attendees), or free ice cream at Handel’s Ice Cream, or enough to treat the entire family to pizza at the iconic Pizza Port downtown. There will be so much winning!

And, if that is not enough, we are adding a fun retail-oriented scavenger hunt this year to introduce you to downtown businesses that you might not already know. Those who complete the scavenger hunt will have an additional opportunity to enter the Grand Prize drawing. One of the “grand prizes” is a complimentary Moke Golf Cart rental to tool around town in style. If you shop small in downtown Carlsbad, we would like to thank you! If you do not, please spend the day with us on November 30th and help us celebrate the strength, resiliency, and creativity of the small businesses that call Carlsbad Village home.

We hope you will fall so in love with Carlsbad’s downtown business community that you will shop small year-round! Visit carlsbad-village.com for more details. #shopsmall #smallbizsaturday