Small Business Saturday saw bustling along Broad Street as Downtown Soul City held its third annual Small Biz Crawl.
Some 14 downtown merchants participated in the cross-promotional event, in which shoppers could pick up downtown maps to guide them along the crawl, enjoying specials and discounts and enter a gift basket raffle.
The community bazaar is Downtown Soul City’s last event of its kind of the year, encouraging Augustans to shop from local vendors, offering VIP memberships that provides perks and event updates for its customers.
“I think everything this year is very smooth, really,” said John Porter, director of Downtown Soul City, noting a turnout slower than last year’s, but overall still considerable.
The festivities kick off at 10 a.m., each year, at Augusta & Co., where the first 200 visitors can receive free tote bags. This is usually when the crawl is at its busiest, Porter said, with crowds gradually dipping before another uptick around midday.
“Usually right after lunch it’s also pretty busy, because people have kind of woken up they’ve had their breakfast,” he said. “So right around noon, people show up again and there’s another wave.”
Alice Bruce, artisan and owner of Kate’s Collection in North Augusta, had permission to set up shop and sell her handcrafted jewelry and gifts outside Southern Roots Beauty Salon—itself offering shoppers discounted skincare and beauty products—and take advantage of the boost in the salon’s foot traffic.
“We’ve had a lot of people come by with their maps, their totes and their buttons, or coming in to get a button,” said Bruce, who usually sells her handcrafted pieces, made with resin, through her online shop. Within the first two hours, she had some 20 customers, she estimated. “I’ve had some 20 people.
“It’s been good, especially for my first time ever like setting up a table,” she said. “Typically, I’m just in the art studio.”
The boost in passersby also gave Southern Roots’ neighbor, the Westabou art gallery, an unusual swell of visitors, including two buyers within the same 10-minute window, said Lillie Jester, who crewed the gallery that day.
By late afternoon, Jester said, “the amount of people who have come by already is usually the amount of people who would come by all day.”
Earth Pantry, the new sustainability-themed grocer, welcomed the Small Business Saturday event along with a slew of curious new customers, said owner Alexia Gonzalez. The new shop already decked for Christmastime, and had sales split between holiday-themed products and groceries.
“It’s been wonderful,” said Gonzalez, who sees her first Small Biz Crawl as a boost in visibility. “We just stocked local bread and butter and that sold out immediately.”
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter covering business for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
