Little guys banding together for Small Business Saturday

Black Friday Eve shopping jumped the gun this year on the normal Black Friday madness at malls and box stores, but area entrepreneurs still want you to remember to shop small today.Small businesses are mounting a bid to get folks into their shops this weekend, though the specific day reminder actually is just meant to provide competition with online and larger stores’ marketing.It’s all aimed at getting you to think small any day you choose to part with money, and Carson City shops are no exception.For example, Artsy Fartsy Art Gallery put out a flier on a “Telegraph Square Holiday Season Open House” downtown from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today.Participating retail shops and restaurants include Artsy Fartsy, Downtown Coin, Fabulous You Day Spa, Floral Creations, Carson City Confections, Rocking and Rolling, Lakeside Properties, Sassafras and Mo and Sluggo’s. People spending $20 or more at any participating retail shop can take the purchase receipt to one of the restaurants to get 10 percent off on lunch or dinner. Another flier from Bike Habitat, a small business among the large stores on Topsy Lane in that major shopping center just south of Carson City, reminds folks to shop there between Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The bike shop next to Best Buy will be open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. today. This local push coincides with the shop small movement across the nation, which is designed to remind people supporting locally-owned small firms in their communities to help the local economy. It’s all part of the American Express Small Business Day, a promotion offering the shopping public choices in gift selection. Commercial realities of the modern era mean you can shop about anywhere you want most of the time, in fact all of the time if you do so online. But this holiday season kickoff for the shop-’til-you-drop crowd is more crowded than ever, and it doesn’t end with shop small Saturday.For example, Wednesday and Thursday at the Carson City Mall there will be a “Made in Nevada Marketplace.” It is for shoppers seeking unique gift products by small business members who make their products in the Silver State.There is no admission and the marketplace intends to be open those days from 11 a.m. until 6 p.m. at the mall, which is in the 1300 block of South Carson St.