ST. LOUIS – Shopping for deals and steals does not stop after Black Friday. Businesses all across the St. Louis area held events and sales as part of Small Business Saturday to entice customers to spend their dollars locally.
Craft Alliance prepared to welcome shoppers wanting to cross items and gifts off of their shopping list.
“Craft Alliance is a community art cooperative, basically we’re a nonprofit. We’ve been in St. Louis for almost 55,” said Dan Barnett, Head of Ceramics.
Everything here is handmade by local artists.
“We also create an environment, so people can create here, learn new techniques in metalsmithing, painting, drawing, printmaking, blacksmithing, ceramics,” said Barnett.
Part of the sales goes to Craft Alliance for tools for the studios, the rest goes to the artists.
“That’s the whole point of like actually being an artist, you learn a new way of seeing and appreciating what it takes to actually make something. Making a mug, making a jewelry broach, all those things,” said Barnett. “And so it becomes less of something that’s commercial, just comes off an assembly line.”
This is the 13th annual celebration of Small Business Saturday, which was founded by American Express.
It’s a day dedicated to supporting the diverse range of local businesses that create jobs, help boost the economy, and enhance neighborhoods around the country.
The National Retail Federation forecasts that out of the 71 million U.S. consumers hoping to shop the Saturday after Thanksgiving, 76 percent say they’ll do so specifically to support Small Business Saturday.
Craft Alliance is open on Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. in the 5000 block of Delmar Boulevard. For more information on Craft Alliance, click here.
St. Louis Magazine also offers many suggestions for businesses to support on Small Business Saturday.