by Mallory T. Tuttle

FRANKLIN
‘Tis the season for shopping — shopping small that is! The holiday season is here and our local Franklin-Southampton area stores and restaurants are preparing to end the 2016 year on a high note…but they need our support.

We are all familiar with the names “Black Friday” and “Cyber Monday” and many of us support both of these days by spending our hard-earned dollars with the participating big-box retailers, but there is one day we may be forgetting to support this season, Small Business Saturday. This year Small Business Saturday will take place on Saturday, Nov. 26, and will occur all over the United States from small towns to large cities.

Small Business Saturday has one goal: to help keep our communities’ local dollars local. As a community it is important to get behind Small Business Saturday and support this cause to help revive our local economy by shopping and eating at our local stores and restaurants.

In return these small business will continually pump our hard-earned dollars back into our local economy by way of taxes, payrolls and purchases helping to fund local roads, schools, services and provide additional jobs. More importantly shopping at one of our local small businesses helps our friends, families and neighbors succeed in their dreams of opening and running a successful business.

On behalf of Franklin Southampton Economic Development Inc., The Tidewater News, Real Country 101.7 and the Franklin-Southampton Area Chamber of Commerce, we would like to invite you to participate in Small Business Saturday and shop small on Nov. 26, and as an added bonus, any shoppers that use #ShopSmallFS and post a selfie to the Franklin Southampton Economic Development Inc. Facebook page showing their Small Business Saturday purchases will be entered to win a $50 Visa gift card — the post with the most “likes” wins.

We hope you will join us in this effort in making Small Business Saturday a huge success.

Join us and shop ‘til you drop in Franklin Southampton!

MALLORY T. TUTTLE is the Business Development manager for Franklin Southampton Economic Development Inc. Contact her at 5621958 or mtuttle@franklinsouthamptonva.com.