Sacramento Small Businesses Urging People To Shop Local And Help Local Economy

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — While big-box stores may be flooded with shoppers on Black Friday, small business owners are doing all they can to get shoppers through their doors.

Regulars at Krazy Mary's Boutique in East Sacramento say you'd be hard pressed to find them at a big-box store this weekend. They say shopping at local stores helps them give back to the community.

Staffers and owners say just because they don't have a glossy newspaper advertisement doesn't mean they don't have sales.

"We're doing 25 percent off the whole store," said sales associate Emily Schubert. "And if you spend $100 or more, we will give you a $15 gift card and it's eligible for use for the entire year."

Next door to Krazy Mary's at the Pink House, they're dropping prices for what they're calling Pink Friday and for Small-Business Saturday. The latter is an American Express promotion geared to getting more people in locally owned shops.

"We have some great deals just like the big box stores do and we have unique things," said owner Peggy Orr. "So i think that makes us as competitive as anyone."

If you're a shop-local rookie, Yelp's Alex Lane says every brick and mortar store in the Sacramento area should have a Yelp listing. Reviews mentioning locally owned or just the word "local" should help you filter independent shops from chains.

"Find anything you want, in any category," Lane said. "And you can use additional filters to narrow it down to specifically what you're looking for."