Small Business Saturday is the day for holiday shopping at local businesses.
To highlight businesses in downtown Augusta, Downtown Soul City will present the fourth annual Small Business Saturday Crawl from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 30.
“Shopping local for your holiday gifts ensures that your loved ones receive a thoughtful and personal gift. The effort made to visit stores in person and spend your money in Augusta contributes greatly to the success of our local economy,” said Sarah Childers, Director of Destination Experiences at Destination Augusta in a news release from Downtown Soul City. “We hope that any first-time event patrons will become recurring, engaged customers at our unique locally owned businesses.”
The event kicks off at Augusta & Co., 1010 Broad Street, where the first 150 shoppers will receive complimentary locally designed canvas tote bags and crawl maps.
Each of the sponsoring businesses is donating items and gift cards for gift baskets. Participants can enter to win a gift basket with each purchase at a store on the crawl.
Participating merchants for this year’s Small Business Saturday Crawl include Augusta Candle Company, Augusta & Co., Boll Weevil, The Book Tavern, Buona Caffe (Reynolds St.), Farmhaus Burger, FIELD Botanicals, Grantski Records, Laziza Mediterranean Grill, The Morris Museum of Art Gift Shop, New Moon Cafe, Tacocat, Tiffinie Bleu Bridal, Three Crows Fiber and Urban K9.
In Aiken, one of the Small Business Saturday events will be a Christmas Craft Fair at the Aiken County Farmers Market beginning at 7:30 a.m.
Businesses in downtown Aiken also have special sales planned for the day.
In North Augusta, the North Augusta Chamber of Commerce plans a Small Business Saturday Popup Shop from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the North Augusta Community Center, 495 Brookside Ave., North Augusta.
Also on the day is North Augusta’s Tinseltown Forest from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Jackson Square, 336 Georgia Ave.
There will be trees and wreaths for sale; music by Luke Moore, Alto Pablo, Jaycie Ward, The Henrys, and voxnbass; food; ornament making; visits with Santa and more.
This is Small Business Saturday’s 15th year. Started by American Express, the event is held the Saturday after Thanksgiving. The company reported Americans spent $17 billion on Small Business Saturday in 2023.
