Danielle Peterson of Marquette shops for socks at Getz’s Clothiers, located at 218 S. Front St. in Marquette, during Small Business Saturday. The day was created to encourage people to shop at small businesses for their holiday shopping. (Journal photo by Christie Mastric)

MARQUETTE — Although it might sound like it, shopping small is not necessarily a bad thing.

In fact, it’s a way to support small businesses, which are the lifeblood of many communities.

On Saturday, area stores celebrated this concept to mark Small Business Saturday, which was created by American Express to take place on the Saturday after Thanksgiving to encourage people to “shop small” and bring more holiday shopping customers to those businesses.

One of those shoppers was Michelle Hulbeck of Skandia, who was a patron at the Upper Peninsula Supply Co., located at 221 W. Washington St., Marquette.

“Just supporting the small businesses,” Hulbeck said when asked about why she was out that day looking to purchase goods.

She also took a look at the pictures of sunrises taken by store owner Justin “Bugsy” Sailor.

In factor, Sailor made a suggestion on Twitter about how to support local businesses on Saturday: offer to pay full price, pay with cash, “say nice things” and share with a friend.

“For every $100 spent locally, it’s an extra $30 that stays locally, to support the events, organizations, venues and people you know and love,” Sailor tweeted.

The Greater Ishpeming-Negaunee Area Chamber of Commerce announced that as a member of the American Express Neighborhood Champion Program, it engaged in social media, email and radio marketing in addition to distributing printed marketing materials for businesses to display on Small Business Saturday — and all holiday season long.

Created by American Express in 2010, Small Business Saturday celebrates the impact small businesses have on communities across the country.

GINCC officials said it supports Small Business Saturday by raising awareness about the importance of shopping local. GINCC’s role as an American Express Neighborhood Champion helps activate its community of small business owners by placing extra attention on the importance of supporting local businesses to benefit the community.

According to the GINCC, this year’s celebration marked the 11th annual Small Business Saturday. Since it started in 2010, consumers have reported spending an estimated $120 billion across all Small Business Saturdays combined.

GINCC participates in the American Express Neighborhood Champion Program to spotlight small businesses and the impact they have on communities. It said that according to the 2019 Small Business Saturday Consumer Insights Survey, 97% of consumers who shopped on Small Business Saturday agreed that small businesses are essential to their community and 95% reported the day makes them want to shop or eat at small, independently owned businesses all year long, not just during the holiday season.

For more information on Small Business Saturday and how to get involved, visit ShopSmall.com.

Christie Mastric can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 250. Her email address is cbleck@miningjournal.net.