Downtown Dixon pushes Shop Local past Small Business Saturday

DIXON – Small Business Saturday didn’t end Saturday in Dixon.

Discover Dixon, the city’s Chamber and Main Street organization, adopted the shop local push around the time American Express invented it to follow Black Friday, back in 2010, and the U.S. Small Business Administration began cosponsoring it a year later.

But this year, the organization extended its promotional event to Dec. 17, Executive Director Amanda Wike said.

Using a punch card, shoppers can earn a punch for every $25 spent at participating businesses. Each punch counts as one entry to the raffle with prizes of either $500 or a gift basket. Punch cards can be picked up from the Discover Dixon office at 87 S. Hennepin Ave. until 8 p.m. Dec. 6. To participate in the raffle, punch cards must be turned in with receipts by 5 p.m. Dec. 17.

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Downtown Dixon business owners had positive things to say about sales Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024, following Shop Small Saturday and said they look forward to the upcoming holiday season. (Alex Paschal)

This past Saturday as part of Small Business Saturday, many Dixon business owners further enticed shoppers into their stores with special discounts and some have sales that will also run until the end of the event on Dec. 17.

Kerri Smith, owner of the comic book store Paper Escape at 205 W. First St., said she forgot about the small business promotion on Saturday until shoppers started handing her their punch cards. Even without a special sale, the store was filled with customers and overall had great business, she said.

Down the street at Waterfront Antiques, 207 W. First St., owner Chris Morgan the store has “never had a shop small Saturday like that.”

Morgan worked until 6 that evening even though the store typically closes at 4 p.m.

“People were still coming in,” she said.

The numbers of costumers exceeded those typically drawn in by Discover Dixon’s annual Christmas Walk, she said, which she typically staffs with about 12 to 15 vendors, up from two to three, on that day in anticipation of the increased business.

With the 2024 Christmas Walk coming up Friday, Morgan said she’s preparing for another busy day.

Outside of prizes and discounts, the promotion emphasizes the importance of shopping at local and small businesses, which is something that’s “part of the personality of our community,” Dixon City Council member Mike Venier said.

The small businesses in Dixon, “many of them have been in existence for decades, and so obviously they’re doing something right and making an impact on their community as well,” Venier said. “They’re the ones that are first to reach out and be involved with their communities.”

“Anytime you’re looking to improve your local community, you look at the business district,” Venier said.

That’s, in part, because a portion of the sales tax goes back to the city, Wike said.

“Every dollar you spend circulates within your community, right? So keeping those tax dollars local, supporting those local entrepreneurs, supporting your neighbors that are owning businesses in town, you know, it keeps the money in the community,” Wike said. “Those dollars then help support your schools, your park districts, your roads and all of the things we take for granted sometimes around town.”

Venier said shopping at local businesses also “supports those that support the community” and for the customer, it’s a better level of service, product knowledge and overall shopping experience.

One success story that Discover Dixon Events Director Jennifer Lang pointed to was Leo’s Marvelous Bites, a Puerto Rican- and American-style restaurant in Dixon’s downtown that recently marked its one-year anniversary. The restaurants owner was a consistent vendor at the Dixon City Market for many years before opening the storefront in November 2023, Lang said.

“We have a lot of great business owners that are truly invested in the community,” Wike said.

“Come walk downtown, you’re going to see a little bit of everything. We have a great bookstore. We have a great bakery. We have clothing boutiques that are great. I mean, the downtown is amazing,” Lang said.