American Express is urging people to "shop small" and support local businesses on one of the busiest shopping weekends of the year.

"We’re asking millions of Americans to 'shop small' at their favorite local stores and help fuel the economy," American Express explains online. "When we all shop small, it will be huge."

The firm puts money where its promotion is by offering a one-time $25 rebate to shoppers spending at least $25 at a small business after registering their credit card here. Any non-franchised locally owned shop qualifies if it accepts American Express. 

In St. Clair Shores, some locals got a jump on the day when resident Sasha Murphy organized the first Shop the Shores crawl

For local businesses, it was a success on a many levels. Councilman Peter Rubino, whose discussion about shopping local during a council meeting inspired Murphy, said it brought in nearly $3,000 to participating businesses.

"It was a great success," Rubino said at a recent meeting. "Hopefully it gets larger."

While the shoppers spent money during the event, it more importantly introduced the shops to new customers.

Circare owner Gloria Kinne said a good majority of the people had never been in her store before.

"It was really good to introduce new people to the store, get them inside and have them come back," Kinne said. "It was all St. Clair Shores residents finding ways to support the independent stores they love."

Circare will be among the many businesses across the Shores, and the country, offering deals for Small Business Saturday.

Some of the offers for the campaign include:

• Circare is offering 15 percent off everything in the store.
• Tim's Bike Shop is offering 15 percent off all in-stock bikes and 10 percent off all other purchases.
• Annabelle's Antiques will be offering deals and discounts on items for the holidays.
• Village Market is offering Cuddly Throws, two for $30, and Perfect Petzzz for $29.99.