Small Business Saturday: How to support minority-owned businesses at these Phoenix markets

Nicole Macias Garibay, Arizona Republic
Updated ·4 min read

With the arrival of Thanksgiving comes the start of Christmas shopping, and countless small businesses in Arizona, especially in metro Phoenix, hope to attract as many of those shoppers during Small Business Saturday.

Not only do small local businesses represent 99.5% of all Arizona businesses and employ 42.2% of the state workforce, according to the 2023 Arizona profile by the U.S. Small Business Administration, they also serve as a meeting place for professional development and community building.

Such is the case of Amor Collective, a store in Park West in the city of Peoria that features products from 30 Latina-owned brands that are based in the Valley. It's an initiative developed by Stephanie Vasquez to help make shopping for local brands easier.

“Success happens so much quicker when it’s in a community-type setting,” Vasquez said. “There’s this thing about us coming together and taking care of each other. It’s just so powerful.”

Amor Collective is the most recent entrepreneurship project — the other being Mujeres Mercado, the largest Latina market in Arizona — developed by Vasquez under the nonprofit organization Empowering Latina Leaders in Arizona (ELLA).

On Friday, Vásquez and other Latina entrepreneurs celebrated the expansion of Amor Collective with the launch of 13 new brands at the Peoria location.

Among the businesses that sell their products at the Amor location are:

Amor was founded with the goal of building a supportive community among Latina business owners and showcasing their brands in mainstream markets.

“The women (at Amor Collective), they just feel so powerful, and when a woman feels powerful, the things that she can create are limitless," Vasquez said.

According to the SBA, in 2022 just over 30% of small businesses in Arizona were owned by a person of color — just shy of 20% specifically owned by Latinos. At least 45% of small businesses across the state were owned by women.

Small Businesses Saturday across the Valley

Amor Collective is one of many collectives and networks in the Valley that are planning events around Small Business Saturday.

This year’s Small Business Saturday — a day established to support small and local businesses across the country and as an initiative to build back up the economy after the Great Recession that lasted from 2007 to 2009 — will take place on Nov. 25.

Small businesses represent the backbone of local communities as they account for 44% of all national activity, according to a 2019 report by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

In 2022, Small Business Saturday reached $17.9 billion in national spending, according to the 2022 Small Business Saturday Consumer Insights Survey. The study also found that for every dollar spent at a small business, $0.68 stays in the local community and that every dollar spent at a small business creates $0.48 in local business activity.

American Express also launched the website doortoshopsmall.com to encourage shoppers to buy from locally-owned brands.

Here are some of the markets happening during Small Business Saturday across the Valley:

Phoenix Flea Market: Nov. 25 from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Heritage Square and Science Park at 113 N. 6th St., Phoenix. https://www.instagram.com/phxflea/

Amor Collective Small Saturday Business Pop-Up: Nov. 25 from 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. Park West at 9780 W. Northern Ave. Suite 1180, Peoria. https://www.instagram.com/amorcollectiveaz/

Cahokia’s Indigenous Pop-Up Market: Nov. 25 from 11 a.m. - 4 p.m., 707 N. 3rd St., Suite 130, Phoenix. https://www.instagram.com/cahokiaphx/

Palabras Bookstore Self-Made Market: Nov. 25 from 6 p.m. - 9 p.m., Nurture House at 906 W. Roosevelt St., Phoenix. https://www.instagram.com/palabras_bookstore/

Phoenix Vintage Market: Nov. 24 from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., 901 N. Central Ave., Phoenix, Arizona. https://www.instagram.com/phxvtg/

Sunny Day Market: Nov. 25 from 2 p.m. - 8 p.m., Wang’s Closet at 1810 N. Scottsdale Rd., Tempe. https://www.instagram.com/sunnyday.market/

PS I Love AZ: Nov. 24, 25 and 26 from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., Legacy Park at 6321 S. Ellsworth Rd., Mesa. https://www.instagram.com/psiloveaz/

Art Market at Window Coffee Bar: Nov. 24 from 7 a.m. - 1 p.m., 903 West Camelback Road, Phoenix. https://www.instagram.com/windowcoffeebar/

Mercado Mesa: Nov. 25 from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., Republica Empanada 204 E 1st Ave., Mesa. https://www.instagram.com/mercado_mesa/

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Small Business Saturday: How support to minority-owned businesses