WARWICK – When Small Business Saturday Shop RI first launched in 2017, the event attracted around 93 vendors and 1,500 shoppers.
Now approaching its seventh year, the pop-up retail experience is poised to return stronger than ever, organizations say, with 167 artisans and entrepreneurs signed on to take over the first floor of the Crowne Plaza Providence-Warwick from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. the Saturday after Thanksgiving, and about 4,000 shoppers anticipated.
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While the long weekend following Thanksgiving has traditionally been known for Black Friday, and later Cyber Monday, Small Business Saturday has emerged as the most recent addition to this stretch of days known for crowds of shoppers clamoring for deals.
“It’s just a tremendous opportunity for a shopper to be able to go into one location and find such a variety of gifts and products that are available through any of these vendors,” Sue Babin, chairperson of Small Business Saturday Shop RI, said of Shop RI’s increasing profile.
And for small business owners, Babin added, the event stands as an opportunity to rebound from what many vendors reported as stagnating sales over the summer, with inflation curbing consumer spending.
Officially launched by American Express in 2010, Small Business Saturday stands as a national effort to highlight and support small businesses after the big box sales events most typically associated with Black Friday.
Babin attributes much of Shop RI’s popularity to its wide variety of vendors present, noting that during the application period, organizers vet businesses to ensure a range of products and lack of repetition across vendors’ offerings.
In addition to a wide range of items for sale, Babin said that the event also strives for diversity among vendors themselves. For instance, Babin, who is also the special projects coordinator for the Rhode Island Developmental Disabilities Council, noted that that 33, or about 20% of this year’s participating vendors are entrepreneurs with disabilities.
Like shoppers, businesses are also eager to participate in the retail event, Babin said, with more vendors signed on to Shop RI than ever.
“It’s been a real uphill struggle for [small businesses] since COVID,” Babin said. “They’ve been trying to build up their clientele since that time, and with the economy and how that’s been for the past few years, people are not buying items” at the same year-round frequency as they did prior to economic inflation.
But consumers are putting forward their best efforts to fulfill holiday gift-giving traditions, Babin said, and while many of the event’s vendors have told Babin that their summer sales took a hit due to this inflation, they look forward to the holiday season and Shop RI as an opportunity to rebound in sales.
In recent years, vendors also reported an overall increase in sales despite economic pressures: In 2021, vendors reported sales between $100 and $7,000, while this figure rose to a range of $30 to $8,000 last year.
Meanwhile, the National Retail Federation has projected a strong showing throughout the holiday weekend nationwide, with around 182 million shoppers anticipated in-store and online Thanksgiving day through Cyber Monday.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday will attract the most shoppers, according to the federation’s predictions, with 72% of survey respondents planning to shop on Black Friday and 69% shopping on Cyber Monday — both up from pre-pandemic levels and 2022.
The full list of vendors signed on to Small Business Saturday Shop RI is available at https://sbsshopri.com/vendor-listing-2023/.
Jacquelyn Voghel is a PBN staff writer. You may reach her at Voghel@PBN.com.
