Columbia small businesses gearing up for busiest holiday shopping day Saturday

With Thanksgiving now over, attention turns to the remaining holiday season and all that it entails.

This includes gift-giving and downtown Columbia businesses are gearing up for one of the biggest shopping days of the year with Small Business Saturday.

Founded in 2010 by American Express, it was a means of putting the focus of consumers back on local retailers through a "Shop Small Movement."

It is an event the Downtown Community Improvement District has participated in nearly since its inception, said Nickie Davis, executive director.

"American Express sends us all kind of fun materials we can pass out to our businesses ... (such as) the very coveted Shop Small tote bag," she said.

Shopping opportunities start 10 a.m. Saturday. All the holiday décor is up and a new feature this year are augmented reality filters available in Instagram for locations around downtown for special photos.

An enchanted forest with falling snow is at the corner of Broadway and North Ninth Street at Commerce Bank, the horse-drawn carriage site at Fretboard Coffee has gingerbread men and a welcoming narwhal at the Gateway Plaza at Broadway and Providence Road.

As with previous years, horse-drawn carriage rides are available Saturdays in November and Saturdays and Sundays in December through Dec. 17 from 4-7 p.m. from the Wish Tree courtyard at Fretboard Coffee and Wishflour Bakery at 1013 E. Walnut St. Ride tickets are free, but go fast, so Davis suggests getting them early and then taking the time do some shopping downtown or grabbing a coffee.

If there are any weather-related cancellations, Davis said to visit the District website for updates. The District has doubled the number of available carriages so even more people can enjoy a ride.

It is great to see the community put its support behind local small businesses, Davis said, noting even through the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, people still found ways to support local retailers and other businesses.

"We have a community that loves small businesses and what that brings to Columbia," she said.

"All of our businesses do something different," for the special shopping holiday, Davis continued. "We have businesses that plan for this. They buy special gifts to give away with certain amount of purchases, they put out new products for the holidays. It is all different types of things."

Small Business Saturday is probably one of the busiest shopping days downtown, Davis said, adding some businesses have held promotions on Saturdays all this month.

"It is a lot of fun to see the businesses do all the fun deals and see people come out really in the holiday spirit," she said.

These anecdotes are backed up by a September 2023 survey of consumers by IPX 1031, a Fidelity National Financial Co. It asked 1,003 people from across the U.S. their small business shopping preferences. Respondents were roughly half men and half women with an average age of 41. Other data was sourced from the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2022 Small Business Profiles for the States, Territories and Nation.

Just over half said they would be shopping during Small Business Saturday, with 60% saying they shopped more at small businesses during the holiday season. Of small business owner respondents, 44% said they rely on the holiday shopping season.

Missouri is among the states with the fewest small businesses. There are 8,784 small businesses per 100,000 people, or 14th lowest, IPX 1031 found. Small business development and attraction isn't as much as an issue in Columbia, Davis said.

"Columbia is an entrepreneurial town. We have so many amazing resources and a lot of them are right downtown," she said, highlighting The Shops at Sharp End retail business incubator that likely will have a soft opening in December.

The incubator is a partnership of The District, Regional Economic Development Inc., Central Missouri Community Action and the Missouri Women's Business Center and is focused on developing minority retail businesses.

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People looking to develop their homegrown business further from the incubator at 500 E. Walnut in the heart of the Sharp End, which was the city's Black business district before urban renewal programs of the late 1950s and early 1960s uprooted businesses and residents alike, "this is where they can come in. We have training and coaches and you can sell in a brick-and mortar," Davis said.

"You get all of the help along the way until you are ready to take that into your own (separate) brick-and-mortar space, of which we are happy to help you find."

Along with business development, the incubator aims to lift up the history of the Sharp End, Davis added.

More: How an ARPA grant will help open a new minority business incubator

Charles Dunlap covers local government, community stories and other general subjects for the Tribune. You can reach him at cdunlap@columbiatribune.com or @CD_CDT on Twitter. Subscribe to support vital local journalism.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Downtown Columbia businesses prepare for Small Business Saturday