Shoppers hit stores along Front Street on Saturday for Small Business Saturday.
That traffic might be more important than ever this year as businesses hold on.
The store manager at M-22 in Traverse City, Deming Wilce, says they’re thankful for customer that want to see their money put back into the community.
“We’ve seen a huge increase in people wanting to support small businesses here. Which, of course, we’re not alone in appreciating that and really needing that business,” said Wilce.
To say thank you they have a five day sale and specials that last until the end of next month.
Wilce says, “We’re offering a couple different specials right now. We have our five day sale going on which is 25% off everything in store as well as online.”
She says that their store has had to adjust to accommodate different shoppers.
“We’ve really had to tailor our kind of business model to meet the sensitive needs of others during this time, because were all in this together. 2020 has been a really tough year,” says Wilce.
Down the road, Toy Harbor says they have also gone through changes over the last few months.
Employee, Valerie Vreeland says, “Things are definitely different this year. Everything’s up in the air and so we have to figure out a lot of it as we go along too.”
Their biggest challenge is the lack of staffing.
Vreeland says, “There’s a lot of shortage supplies, there’s definitely worker supplies that are short, we’ve lost like 75% of our staff due to compromised health.”
Toy Harbor says events like Small Business Saturday help to get them back on their feet.
Businesses downtown Traverse City will also have specials for Cyber Monday and Giving Tuesday.
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