Shopping locally at small businesses in our neighborhoods (1) helps maintain the diversity of stores on the mid-south side, (2) builds strong neighborhoods, (3) creates jobs, (4) provides funds for more City services through sales tax, and (5) promotes community development.
Thanks to the contributions of Bank of America and PNC Bank, and Allstate, South East Chicago Commission is collaborating with Special Service Area 61 – Downtown Hyde Park Chicago to activate local business districts throughout the year.
SECC encourages residents and visitors to approach the holiday shopping season with small, local businesses in mind, especially for the nationally recognized shopping day known as Small Business Saturday.
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Holiday Season Shopping
Every year the holiday shopping frenzy known as Black Friday brings a rush of spending the day after Thanksgiving with thoughts of gift giving and personal shopping. Black Friday has routinely been the busiest shopping day of the year in the United States since 2005.
Small Business Saturday is a day dedicated to supporting small businesses and communities across the country. Founded by American Express in 2010, this day is celebrated each year on the Saturday after Thanksgiving and U.S. consumers have reported spending an estimated $85 Billion+* at independent retailers and restaurants over these eight days alone.
Cyber Monday also known as Blue Monday is a marketing term for the Monday after the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States. It was created in 2005 by retailers to encourage people to shop online. Cyber Monday has become the online equivalent to Black Friday and offers a way for smaller retail websites to compete with larger chains. In 2019, according to Adobe Analytics, Cyber Monday mobile transactions totaled $3.1 billion with total online sales reaching a record $9.4 billion.