Small businesses get creative on Small Business Saturday, hoping for a boost in sales amid pandemic

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The Massachusetts Avenue Merchants Association is on a mission to make holiday shopping during the pandemic safe and easy for customers looking to buy local.

People are encouraged to shop online on Small Business Saturday and then pick up their orders during the first-ever Curbside Pickup Sunday happening at Art Bank parking lot on 811 Mass Ave from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Not all Small Business Saturday stores are participating in Sunday’s pickup.

“We have our own curbside pickup available anytime and of course we want to see our customers over the holidays, but we’re so thankful they are still showing up to show support,” said store manager of Global Gifts, Dianna Norris.

Norris said last year’s Small Business Saturday brought in $15,000 in sales.

“If we reached half of that I think we’ll be happy,” added Norris.

While the curbside pickup is new, some Small Business Saturday traditions remain.

Mass Ave Indy says swag bags are still available to the first 10 customers at each of the 17 participating stores on Saturday morning and to the first 100 cars on Sunday.

Each store will welcome their own deals and offerings on Saturday and many of the stores have capacity limits.

“We just expanded our store last week so our capacity is 25 people, but we are encouraging people to buy online,” said Stacey Petcu, who owns Three Dog Bakery.

The pet store and bakery has been in operation for 20 years and Petcu says their customers are planning to shop early.

“We are hoping they get in early so we can maintain momentum,” said Petcu who couldn’t remember sales from 2019 but agreed she’s thankful to the community for their support.

For more information on Small Business Saturday on Mass Ave, click here.