Downtown Bend merchants urge you to ‘Shop Small Saturday’

Get a 'passport' stamped, use it to enter a raffle for prize basket

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- The holiday season is just days away, and the Downtown Bend Business Association is kicking it off with Shop Small Saturday on Nov. 30. Shoppers can meet with the DBBA staff to pick up their passport in the Commons Plaza in Downtown Bend between 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Shoppers will then get their passport stamped as they visit the over 70 participating businesses.

When you shop local, you recirculate dollars within your community, enhance the livability of your town, and support the expansion of independent and locally owned businesses.  Shopping local creates jobs and can reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Local shopping also offers the possibility of walking to stores, which has the added benefit of encouraging healthy, active lifestyles.  Furthermore, studies who that entrepreneurial communities are the ones who are most adaptable to new circumstances, whether it’s a changing market or new technology.

“Shop Small Saturday has become an annual event like Black Friday,” said Executive Director of the DBBA, Mindy Aisling. “But it’s more important. On Shop Small Saturday our community has the chance to meet local business owners and hear their stories.  When you realize that your hard-earned dollars are going directly to another local Bend family – maybe someone who had kids at the same school as yours, or shares your love for Elks baseball – it’s pretty easy to become committed to shopping local.”

Shoppers can enter their completed passports in a raffle for a chance to win one of multiple prize baskets, which will be filled with donated gifts from Downtown Bend businesses.  No purchase is necessary to participate and prize winners will be announced later that day.

The DBBA is a nonprofit dedicated to increasing the vitality of Downtown Bend.  For more information, or to make a donation, please email downtownbend@gmail.com.