Central Florida shops hoping for support on Small Business Saturday
As many people wrap up their Black Friday shopping, some businesses need support way more than giant retailers.
College Park Main Street will be filled with vendors and plenty of unique shopping and dining options on Small Business Saturday.
It's to encourage people to come out and explore what their community has to offer.
"Kids need bicycles at Christmas. You know, that's a great Christmas item," Howard Larlee, the owner of Orange Cycle, said.
The end of Thanksgiving signals the start of the holiday season.
"We expect a lot of people," Amanda Mosher, a worker at Dechoes Resale, said.
Major retailers get much of the attention on Black Friday, but the dollars spent the next day could make a huge difference in neighborhoods.
"We love College Park, we love Orlando. We're pretty much a fixture I would say now because we have been here for 20 years," Mosher said.
Local businesses like Dechoes Resale along Edgewater Drive are hoping to stay successful for more years to come.
"Shopping small and really supporting all of – not just us but everybody in College Park," Mosher said.
They're counting on people to especially support them on Small Business Saturday.
"We have a core belief of sustainable fashion; giving new life to something that may just end up in a landfill," Mosher said.
Down the block from the store is Orange Cycle.
"I mean you can't find this at a big box store. We are really exclusively bicycles," Larlee said.
The owner is grateful to shoppers that show up even through hard times.
"We've had a crazy three years with the pandemic. We closed our store to the public for a year and just set our tents every day outside our back door and ran in and out taking care of customers," Larlee said.
Along with Small Business Saturday, College Park will host a tree lighting in the evening to ring in the holiday season.