Tomorrow is Small Business Saturday, and Small Businesses are Feeling Especially Squeezed This Year

By Jack Armstrong and Abby O’Brien

Tomorrow, Saturday Nov. 29 is Small Business Saturday. The day, which was invented 15 years ago by a partnership between American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation, encourages shoppers to go out and do their holiday shopping at small businesses rather than big box stores.

Small businesses say they’re especially vulnerable this year as rising costs take effect, especially from tariffs. We took the occasion to check in with our local small businesses.

Michelle Vargo is co-owner of Bliss, a gift boutique store on Boulder’s Pearl St. She says Small Business Saturday is one of their biggest sales days of the year, and an opportunity for the business to interface with the public and communicate about why it’s important to support small businesses.

“From what I’ve talked to other small business owners, this year has been a difficult one,” says Vargo. She knows shoppers are feeling uncertainty about their own financial situations.  When you shop small, she says, “your dollar really rolls back into the community and it’s a way that you can honestly vote every day and support your community members.”

This story aired on the Morning Magazine, KGNU’s weekday morning show featuring in-depth discussions on local news issues. Click here to listen to other episodes of the Morning Magazine.