COLUMBIA, S.C. — Along Devine Street, local shops and local people both kick-started holiday shopping for Small Business Saturday.
Shandon resident Cole McNair was shopping with his family Saturday afternoon to look for unique gifts.
“We are fortunate enough to live right here in this area,” said McNair. It's an area full of small shops and locally owned boutiques.
McNair and his family decided to go out to support small businesses and take advantage of some deals.
Some boutiques offered 20% off. Pout, a local luxury makeup store, offered deals too.
President of Pout, Diana Shelton, said shopping local in their area is, "a sense of community, we’re all supporting each other. We’re like a little family here on Devine Street.”
A family, Shelton said, is working hard to bounce back from the pandemic.
“Even yesterday, everybody was so excited that it was more normal, but they came to us instead of other makeup stores because they wanted to support the small businesses because you know small businesses struggled," Shelton said.
McNair agreed, saying he's happy to be supporting small businesses:
“It’s just great with the pandemic to see places back open, and people in and out of stores, and friendly faces around,” he said.
Shelton explained that shopping local means so much more now after seeing so many businesses suffer.
“I’m just thankful for the support and love we get, and I hope they’ll keep supporting us,” she said.
So, before running to the mall for holiday shopping, McNair suggests shopping local instead.
“It’s definitely a more personalized service," McNair said. "You can get to know the people that work there and see what their unique collections are, as opposed to the anonymous feel of a mall store.”
Small Business Saturday is a nationwide effort to shop local and support small businesses after the boom in shopping during Black Friday.
Many local stores plan to have Cyber Monday deals too. Pout will offer free shipping and complimentary gifts at check out.