Holiday gift-giving can be a tradition to cherish, especially when small businesses can offer unique trinkets and customized items that many big name department stores cannot.
In 2010, American Express founded Small Business Saturday with a focus on motivating customers to shop small on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. On Nov. 29, Indianapolis will participate in the Shop Small movement as a one-stop shop for customers during the inaugural Small Business Saturday, Women & Minority Small Business Market.
The event, which is sponsored by the Indianapolis Chapter of Indiana Black Expo (ICIBE) and Jael LLC, will take place from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. at St. Andrew the Apostle Catholic Church, 4052 E. 38th St.
Jeana Ouattara, ICIBE marketing chair, and her three sisters, who own Jael LLC, wanted to discover a way to highlight small businesses who did not have a storefront and encourage holiday shoppers to patronize local women and minority-owned small businesses.
“We will have everything from shea butters to natural hair products to medical bracing to the Indianapolis Public Library’s services. Hopefully we’ll have some art pieces as well,” commented Ouattara.
Supporting small businesses increases local employment and the city’s tax base to build a better community. According to the National Federation of Independent Business and American Express, “consumers spent around $5.7 billion at independent merchants around the country on Small Business Saturday” in 2013 which is a 3.6 percent increase from the following year.
“When you spend money at a small business a lot of the money stays in the community,” said Ouattara.
Miaesha Barnes, regional property manager, founder and owner of ES Fashion will be participating in Small Business Saturday due to her love for the small business community and retail.
“I try to make sure every event I do supports some sort of cause, organization or church. I don’t participate in nightclub events because I want ES Fashion to be a community and family based business,” noted Barnes who has an online store full of jewelry, hats, purses and shoes.
The small business market will be free of charge to the public but participants are encouraged to donate canned goods for St. Andrew the Apostle Catholic Church’s Christmas pantry.
In addition to the online store, Barnes also customizes apparel, designs clothing and provides personalized shopping services. In the near future she plans to launch a girls mentoring group called Gurls of Grace.
Ouattara is anticipating about 40 vendors at the event, including Sherri Miles, founder and owner of Rhinestone Reflections, a local company that customizes apparel using rhinestone designs. Miles, who previously owned a retail store in Lafayette Square Mall in the 90s’, has provided her services to St. Vincent Health, Kentucky State University, the Eastern Star Praise Team, the Indy Naptown All Stars among others. Miles said social media has helped her business grow over the past five years
“Facebook, attending events and word of mouth has definitely helped. We are currently in 12 different states,” said Miles whose products range from $25-$30 in price.
For more information about ES Fashion, visit esfashionflava.com or facebook.com/pages/ES-Fashion and for more information about Rhinestone Reflections visit rrindy.com or facebook.com/RhinestoneReflections.
