LOMPOC, Calif. -
The day after Black Friday, holiday
shoppers are encouraged to shop local for National Small Business Saturday.
One local town
went as far as offering a drawing to entice local residents to shop downtown.
In Lompoc, California,
life-long resident Amanda Brooks says small business is the heart of the
community.
"It's where you get unique, individual things that make a
community different from other communities," says Brooks.
And for Lompoc shop
owner Sue Manning that specialized customer service is bringing her double the
sales on Small Business Saturday.
"We don't try to
compete with the big box stores because we really can't," says Sue's Place
boutique owner Sue Manning. "We like to give personal service and we feel this
is what brings people back again and again."
But that's not all
Lompoc is doing to pull in local customers. The Chamber of Commerce is working
with 22 local stores to offer a drawing to shoppers who visit at least five of
the local stores. Every time a shopper visits one of these small businesses in
downtown Lompoc, they will receive a stamp from the merchant and will be
automatically entered into a drawing for some gift baskets.
The chamber created
gift baskets including donated items from the local stores.
"Lompoc needs small
business very, very badly," says Manning. "We have a hard time with a lot of
people out of work. We feel if we give them some kind of special on merchandise
they will keep it in town and help us out."
