Las Vegas Valley businesses ready for Small Business Saturday

“It’s one of our favorite times of the year,” he said. “Not only because of the business but because of the community really coming forward and helping us grow.”

JoJo’s Jerky inside Downtown Container Park is one of 30 tenants celebrating Small Business Saturday.

The event, created by American Express in 2010, is meant to encourage shoppers to consider small businesses for their holiday shopping needs. A small business is classified as a manufacturing company with 500 employees or fewer and most non-manufacturing businesses with average annual receipts under $7.5 million, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Allie Duda, co-owner of board game store Gaming Goat in Container Park, said it will be her first year participating in Small Business Saturday since she opened her shop in August.

“My goal is getting the shop’s name out there and letting people know that we exist,” she said.

Nicole Leinbach Reyhle, founder of online retail industry resource Retail Minded, said the day gives small companies a chance to be supported by their local communities though it does fall between a busy time of year.

“We live in a very competitive retail landscape,” she said. “But Small Business Saturday — I like to look at it as the celebratory kickoff to the holiday season. The movement of shopping small is really all year round, and Small Business Saturday is just the day that celebrates it.”

Consumers have reported spending more than $100 billion at small businesses on Small Business Saturday over the past nine years, according to American Express. It also estimated $67 billion stayed within the community where the money was spent, based on its estimate that an average of two-thirds of every dollar spent on a small business stays in that community.

Summerlin’s The Salt Room founder Ava Mucikyan is hosting her own event inside her wellness center featuring products from as many as 15 other small-business retailers.

“We decided to ask some of our vendors to come and set up their tables and talk about their products,” Mucikyan said, adding that for her own business she is celebrating the entire month with special promotions.

“Other than the fact that we just turned five and it’s Thanksgiving and the holidays, we decided to make it a whole monthlong thing,” she said.

Henderson-based Mikel’s Photographer &Design Owner Mikel Conrad said it’s about bringing the community together.

Conrad helped to create Shop Small Henderson when he served as president of the Water Street Business District Association about three years ago.

“Awareness is a huge thing, but we also want to boost the bottom line for businesses here, so it’s a dual goal,” he said. “Water Street is our nucleus, and we hope that it will spread out. If they come down here, then eventually they’ll find other small businesses off of Water Street.”

This year’s Shop Small Henderson takes place along Water Street from Lake Mead Parkway to Basic Road from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Visitors can expect more than 100 exhibitors as well as food trucks and activities such as crafts, face painting and a photo booth.

Contact Subrina Hudson at shudson@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0340. Follow @SubrinaH on Twitter.