MOSES LAKE — Black Friday is big business, drawing huge crowds to huge stores with heavily advertised specials. But the next day, Small Business Saturday, hits a little closer to home. 

“Typically, on Black Friday we don’t get much of a showing,” said Mai Houvener, owner of The Sandbox bookstore in the Smith-Martin Building in Moses Lake. “Saturday, people have been pretty supportive.” 

Small Business Saturday was started, ironically, by a big business. American Express first promoted the idea in 2010 to encourage local shopping during an economic recession, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The U.S. Senate unanimously passed a resolution recognizing it the next year and by 2012 officials in all 50 states were actively participating. 

The sidewalks weren’t teeming with shoppers in Moses Lake or Ephrata on Saturday morning, possibly because of the chilly weather, but proprietors said the stream of customers had been better than usual. 

“It’s huge,” said Sue Torrence, owner of Sue’s Gift Boutique in Moses Lake. “People just let you know they appreciate you. A lot of people will say, ‘I came in because it’s Small (Business) Saturday and I want you to be able to stay here.” 

“Instead of going to, like, Hobby Lobby or something, we decided to shop small today,” said Vanessa Ramirez, who was shopping at Sue’s with her daughter Selena Ramirez for a birthday gift for a friend. 

Shopping on a small scale is a big deal nationwide, according to the U.S. Small Business Association. Last year, Small Business Saturday brought about $17 billion into local merchants’ tills. That’s money that mostly stays in the community; 75% of small businesses contribute at least 6% of their profits to charity every year, according to the Washington Small Business Development Center. Small businesses added more than 187,000 jobs in Washington state between 2022 and 2023, the latest year for which data was available, according to the SBA. 

“It’s our biggest day of the year,” said Danette Preston, owner of Settler’s Country Market in Moses Lake. “We try to promote it on (social media) a couple of weeks ahead of time to get ready for it. We get a lot of samples in from our vendors so we can give people samples, and we do prize drawings.” 

The Bookery in Ephrata was fairly busy Saturday morning, although owner Sheryl Dotson said more people tended to come in after noon, and Friday was pretty slammed as well. 

“The community is amazing here in Ephrata,” Dotson said. “We are very well supported. I never have any worries about selling all of this. In fact, I’m worried about not having enough merchandise on the shelves. I am constantly searching for new gift items.” 

“We’ve had quite a few people walking by,” said Jennie Sanders, owner of Mad Hatter Fibers in downtown Ephrata. “Some people stopped in and said hi, came to check us out and see what we had going. So it’s been a pretty good day so far.” 

Tia Jones, co-owner of Little Peanut Swap, which moved into the Smith-Martin Building in September, said the increased foot traffic has been beneficial. The shop’s previous location was in an alley, which made it hard to attract foot traffic. 

“It’s been really busy or really slow,” said Jones’ partner Aleena Iverson. 

Having businesses close together benefits all of them, Houvener said. 

“Working together in tandem with (Little Peanut Swap) and with (Mason’s) coffee shop has been really great for business for us,” she said. “We're all women-owned businesses, and so we're really comfortable hanging out with each other and supporting each other and working together.” 

    The Bookery in Ephrata was a hive of activity on Small Business Saturday.
  

    From left: Melanie Pruneda, Heather Ramirez and Marianne Reynolds look over the racks outside Little Peanut Swap in the Smith-Martin Building in Moses Lake. The three were actually out shopping for a wedding dress for Ramirez, they said, but got distracted looking at clothes for grandchildren in the process.