YAKIMA, Wash. – Cities across the nation are celebrating Small Business Saturday, a national campaign held on the Saturday after Thanksgiving to encourage shopping locally. In Washington, multiple cities, including Yakima, are hosting their own events.
Participants could check in at Downtown Association of Yakima and receive a map of all the small businesses in downtown Yakima to support during Small Business Saturday.
Curt Wilson, executive director of Yakima’s Downtown Association, shared his thoughts on the event.
“It just encourages people to move throughout the downtown and support these small business owners,” he said.
Wilson emphasized the importance of supporting local businesses and taking pride in the downtown area.
“Our role here in the downtown community is to promote our downtown businesses,” Wilson said. “People are coming, and they’re shopping, and they see the value in shopping locally and investing in their community.”
Fernando Mora, owner of Plant Passion, participated in Small Business Saturday for the first time, having opened his business just six months ago.
“It’s just helping your neighbors because we’re all here, you know, having our own business,” Mora said. “We’re trying to get this going for the community and offer some of our services.”
Wilson also expressed what makes the day special for him.
“What makes it special for me is just to see those small business owners really interact with their customers,” he said.
Just across the street, Stephanie Agledal and Debbie Brown were engaging with shoppers at their store, The Gathered Home.
“It’s fun with everybody in the shopping mood, and it’s fun just interacting with people in the community,” Brown said. “Everybody’s in a good mood and happy.”
Agledal added, “The community support, and we just really, really feel that, you know, throughout the year we do too. But especially today, people are just really excited to shop small.”
Though the event has concluded, both Gathered Home and Plant Passion emphasized the importance of supporting small businesses year-round. They noted that one purchase can truly make a difference.
