Independent businesses are in the Black Friday shopping spirit this year with a ton of shop-local incentives to prove big deals don’t just come from big-box stores.
All day Friday is OTR’s fifth annual Holidays in the Bag event (otrchamber.com). Buy the official $5 holiday bag and receive discounts at participating OTR stores. Hyde Park retailers will also be jumping on the Black Friday bandwagon with special sales starting at 6 a.m. (hydeparksquare.org).
And the shopping doesn’t end there.
Saturday is American Express’ Small Business Saturday (americanexpress.com/us/small-business/shop-small), a nationwide push to support small businesses. Discounts will be available through American Express.
Also on Saturday is OTR’s Main Street Merry Market. This pop-up shop happens from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturdays through Dec. 14 (facebook.com/mainstreetmerrymarket). With all this, there’s no reason not to shop local this season.
This article appears in Nov 20-26, 2013.