Big crowds for Small Business Saturday in Padanaram

Nov 24, 2018

The streets of Padanaram Village were lined with cars on Saturday as shoppers flocked to local stores for Small Business Saturday.

The day, which was created in 2010 by American Express, advocates shopping at small businesses rather than the big box stores that tend to prosper on Black Friday.

“It’s been crazy,” said Natalie Sines, the owner of Dahlia Living and Padanaram Outfitters. “The whole village is busy.”

Her shop bustled with customers and new and old friends.

“Probably the nicest thing about this weekend is you have a lot of people coming home for Thanksgiving,” said George Sines, Natalie’s husband. He said that many intergenerational groups had come in to shop, and the day was serving as an informal reunion.

Anne Sadow, who owns Flora Home, Flora Style, and Flora Etc. with her husband Richard, said she hopes Small Business Saturday would introduce shoppers to the many new shops in the village.

“People who didn’t have time in the summer are coming to check it out,” Sadow said.

The Sadows noted that people enjoy being able to walk around to shop in the village, rather than driving from store to store, and shopping within the community.

“I think somebody came in before we were even open,” said Erin McHugh, who was working at Flora Etc. “It’s great for the store, and it’s great for the village.”

Galen Snow, of the 6 ½ Bridge Street Gallery, said that the Saturday is one of the gallery’s biggest days of the year.

“We all work together to make it a go, which is not easy to do in this digital world,” Snow said. The gallery is a cooperative, which means that its 10 core artists staff the shop and vote on major decisions. There are 10 more artists who sell on consignment.

“These are real people with real lives and real stories,” said Sarah Morse, the gallery’s founder. “Everybody’s pretty special.”