Business & Tech

Small Businesses Support Shopping Locally

The Nov. 26 promotion features $25 incentive from American Express to 'shop small.'

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. 

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

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

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.

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

"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.

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:


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here