DETROIT (WXYZ) — After the Black Friday rush, Small Business Saturday is putting the focus back on neighborhoods, bringing a big lift to metro Detroit's mom-and-pop stores.
Inside Briarwood Mall and across downtown shopping districts, retailers say they're seeing more people choose to shop in person for the experience and the connection.
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"I think in-person shopping is making a resurgence, and I love the integration of both online shopping and in-person," said Melissa, a local shopper.
For many customers, the appeal goes beyond convenience. Tonya Davis, who has been shopping with her children since they were little, said the tradition is about more than just purchasing items.
"It's always been a tradition since my kids were little, so I think it's more the excitement and the environment and just having to be around everybody," Davis said.
The tactile experience of shopping draws customers like Abigail Kim, who prefers trying items before buying.
"I can try things on, especially clothes and stuff, because online clothing like sizes are different," Kim said.
Davis agrees, emphasizing the immediate satisfaction of in-person shopping.
"Having to touch it and feel it and bring it home. I don't like to wait. I'm impatient," Davis said.
For small business owners like Rick Awdish, owner of Sip Coffee Cafe, Black Friday and Small Business Saturday go hand and hand, making a crucial difference as storefronts compete with online retailers.
"You can't get our types of products online delivered by Amazon," Awdish said.
This year, Small Business Saturday comes with an extra lesson thanks to a group of young entrepreneurs learning how to build and sell their own products. These students, part of a program with Atlantic Impact, spent the fall hand-crafting items, including pieces they're selling to the public for the first time.
"It's really nice seeing what we made because we're young, so we really don't know that much as professionals would," said Ashley Sigala, a welder participating in the program.
Instructors say it's about more than crafting a product; it's about preparing students for real-world business experience.
"It shows them how to manage their time, how to present themselves to the public," said Nino Tanzini, lead instructor for Atlantic Impact.
As Black Friday winds down and Small Business Saturday takes center stage, local owners and the next generation of entrepreneurs say shopping local does more than support a store; it invests in a community.
"They're learning how to manage their time. They're learning how to manage their money, how to talk to a customer, how to write up their contract, how to make sure that quality is far more important than it is to worry about your price or profitability," Tanzini said.
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