While crowds of eager shoppers flocked to malls and big-box stores throughout Southwest Florida this holiday weekend, the manager of Sarasota Architectural Salvage spent Black Friday preparing for the store’s own biggest day of the year — Small Business Saturday.

The promotion, organized by credit card giant American Express, encourages consumers nationwide to spend the day after Black Friday shopping with local merchants for their holiday gifts. O’Malley says the concept has really caught on.

“It’s nice we have the national spotlight — focusing on businesses that create a product locally, sell it locally and keep the money local,” he said. “This is something we have believed in for a really long time.”

via Small businesses gear up for big shopping day | HeraldTribune.com.