San Diego residents find local flavor on Small Business Saturday - San Diego Union-Tribune

Six-year-old Hannah Bowman was on a mission to find every rainbow-colored parrot hidden along Ocean Beach’s main commercial street. She browsed the stores, searching the shelves and windows to check off each animal with a funny name tag on her bingo card.

Each stuffed parrot toy — like “Beethoven” at the pet supply store and “Coco” at a boutique — represented one of the 96 local businesses participating in Ocean Beach’s annual Small Business Saturday event and was just one way the neighborhood’s business association maximized its activities attempted foot traffic.

The day of celebration offered free family fun on a holiday weekend, but more importantly, it aimed to drive traffic and money for local small businesses as a counterpoint to big box stores and online retailers.

The loot Hannah picked up along the way, such as a shiny silver headband at a local boutique, was just a bonus to her treasure hunt. Meanwhile, Hannah’s parents were happy to spend a day browsing shops and having lunch in Ocean Beach.

Mom Emily Bowman of Rancho Santa Fe said she was looking for Christmas decorations and had already found a few handmade shell ornaments to decorate her fresh tree.

The Ocean Beach Mainstreet Association set up a photo booth at Veteran’s Plaza where passersby could score a free shopping bag and shoppers who spent a certain amount at nearby stores could spin a colorful wheel to win gift cards.

(Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

To encourage shoppers to shop from local merchants during Shop Small in Ocean Beach, a bingo game was developed that rewards shoppers with raffle tickets for a chance to win prizes. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

“We don’t expect people not to go online and shop” because everyone is so busy, said Kristen Keltner, events and programs manager for the Ocean Beach Mainstreet Association. “We just want to remind them that there are small local businesses here and you might discover a store that has something that you didn’t even know you needed or would buy from online.”

Small Business Saturday was created by American Express in 2010 to encourage people to “shop small” during the holiday season. Since then, it has been an annual opportunity for companies to get their name in front of their customers.

Across the county, small businesses held sales or promotions to take advantage of the day-long festivities following Black Friday, the start of the holiday shopping season.

The Ocean Beach group has been hosting the annual event for about a decade, although this is the first year since the coronavirus pandemic began in 2020 that the club has staged a large interactive installation again.

One bright spot in the pandemic is that it has shown how much small businesses rely on community support, said Daniel Fitzgerald, regional director of the San Diego and Imperial Small Business Development Center Network, federally funded business centers throughout the county that provide free resources and provide training for local entrepreneurs.

Fitzgerald said the economic environment has improved “not much, but a little” for small businesses compared to what it looked like a year ago.

“The problems that existed after the pandemic were the rise in interest rates and inflation, and both have subsided,” he said. “And so I think the fact that things have been predictable over a longer period of time allows companies to plan.”

According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, small businesses account for about 46% of jobs in the United States and generate about 44% of the national economic activity.

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Creations Boutique in Ocean Beach had a variety of clothing designs for sale during the Shop Small event to show support for independent local businesses. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

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“I’ve worked with large companies and at the end of the day, their sales are their sales and they know they’re going to make it,” said Nicolette Montejano, area manager of Creations Boutique on Newport Avenue in Ocean Beach. “For us, it’s like we’re constantly fighting to make it. I love seeing our community come together and shop here – it’s so beautiful and so humbling.”

The extra attention is particularly welcome in Ocean Beach, as local businesses and restaurants have seen a decline in foot traffic due to the pier’s closure. The OB Mainstreet Association estimates that the pier attracts about half a million people to the area each year.

In recent years, the iconic structure has been repeatedly closed for storm-related repairs. But from August the 58-year-old structure will remain closed until it is completely replaced by an ambitious new design.

Nicole Leavitt, co-owner of James Gang Company, a local retailer and T-shirt screen printing company, said Small Business Saturday has helped boost sales each year.

James Gang has been around since 1976 and invented the popular Ocean Beach logo – a seagull flying over the letter OB – she said. They sell Ocean Beach-themed t-shirts and sweatshirts at their store across from Target and work with local businesses to print posters or make custom clothing.

“When you go into a small business, you support the people who live in your own community, and that’s the most important thing,” Leavitt said. “They don’t support people who are already billionaires.

“They support people who are trying to live in the most expensive city in the world,” she said with a laugh.

A 2022 Small Business Economic Impact Study co-sponsored by American Express showed a local “multiplier effect” from money spent at local businesses – an additional $0.48 for every dollar spent. This means independent retailers spend about three times as much locally as shopping at a corporate chain.

San Diego residents find local flavor on Small Business Saturday – San Diego Union-Tribune

ByAmelia Journalton

By Amelia Journalton

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