Message from Deputy Mayor Elizabeth Stamler | December 9, 2021
Small businesses are the heart of Scotch Plains.
Our downtown provides the perfect opportunities for entrepreneurs who want to serve their friends and neighbors, while providing local jobs and more places where we can all gather in our hometown.
Small businesses offer more vitality to our shopping corridors on Park Avenue, Westfield Avenue, Second Street and elsewhere, while helping to build stronger personal relationships within Scotch Plains among friends and neighbors.
It was for these reasons, and many others, that I was pleased to participate in the Small Business Saturday event, held Nov. 27, an exciting collaboration between the Township and the Scotch Plains Business & Professional Association.
We were stationed on the Village Green for three hours, handing out nearly 100 “Shop Local” bags filled with coupons and promotions for local businesses. We were joined by the police department, which was providing hot chocolate and hot dogs as part of the holiday cheer.
This promotion encourages residents – both old and new – to experience all that is available right here in Scotch Plains. While I know that many of us will be shopping online and at the regional malls, there is always something special about shopping local and helping out merchants. Local businesses are the ones who support our sports teams, festivals and other community programs – not big box stores. As the saying goes, when you support a local business, a real person does a happy dance!
So, yes, there was Black Friday that encouraged everyone to hit the big box stores in the middle of the night. And there was Cyber Monday, as everyone chased the online deals. And that is why it was also so important that we held Small Business Saturday, which is now a thriving national program.
Small Business Saturday started in 2010, the brainchild of American Express. The next year, the U.S. Senate passed a resolution supporting this day. Ever since, consumers have spent nearly $140 billion on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, ensuring that local businesses tap into the enormous buying power of the holiday shopper during this special time of the year.
Scotch Plains is eager to promote our merchants at every turn. We decorate the downtown for the holidays with help from local businesses and organizations. And we also hold lighting events for Christmas and Hanukkah on our village green, bringing hundreds of people downtown and reminding them of all that is right here.
Many of our business owners have endured the painful, lingering pandemic, when their doors were shuttered for weeks or even months, as people were ordered to stay home. Based on the quality of their products and services, as well as the relationships that have been nurtured with customers over the years, I am pleased to say that many of our local businesses have survived.
Now, it is our role to also make sure they thrive. I want to thank the many residents who turned out for Small Business Saturday, enjoying great deals while helping Scotch Plains. Everyone really had a great time! I hope that you will visit the downtown again in the upcoming days and weeks, as you check off your gift list.
In this season of giving, in which we eagerly spread the love, let’s make sure that our small businesses know that we value and cherish them, as well.
