Local Bay Area businesses hope for a boost on Small Business Saturday

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- Bay Area businesses are banking on Small Business Saturday and local cities are facilitating events around the day.

South Bay

The city of San Jose is also working to see a boost for its small businesses.

Christina Bui and her family have owned Love Me Knots Bridal for more than 30 years. Bui also serves as the Board Chair of the Tully Road - Eastridge Business Association.

"A lot of us had to pivot," she said, "We had to pivot to survive."

And though Bui could be considered one of the fortunate ones, the struggles of running a small business continue, so she and others businesses owners, like Caleb Orozco, are hopeful for Small Business Saturday.

"We really can't have a shortage of support, especially during these times," he said.

Orozco owns The Last Round Tavern in Downtown San Jose a business he worked to start and keep open during the pandemic.

Through the difficult circumstances, he says what has set his and many other small businesses apart can't be bought through online shopping.

"What really supports small businesses and what really at the end of the day makes them thrive is that human to human interaction," he said.

The city of San Jose has launched a shop local campaign to facilitate more of those interactions beyond Small Business Saturday. It's called Holiday San Jose, creatively mapping out and identifying hundreds of small businesses in 11 shopping districts.

The city says it has more than 60,000 small and micro-businesses, each contributing to the local economy.

The potential boost from the holiday campaign is one the local business owners are grateful for.

"It's just making us feel, that we're seen and that we've been heard and that they know our struggle," Bui said.

At the end of the day, whether it's Small Business Saturday or not, the business owners hope that community members know that all of their hard work is for their friends and neighbors.

"That's ideal, to have somebody here in this community making it for you from here, not sending it out anywhere else but having our special touches on it," Bui said.

For more on Holiday San Jose, visit here.

East Bay

In Oakland, The BlackOut Holiday Market ran through 5 p.m. Saturday evening.

Peninsula

The City of Pacifica launched Shop Pacifica Week starting Saturday through December 1.

North Bay

Benicia scheduled its Wine Walk & Shop Small event for Saturday.

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