KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Saturday marked the 12th annual Small Business Saturday, a day meant to encourage people to shop local and support small businesses.
At CitiFid-O in downtown Knoxville, it has been a busy weekend from the get-go starting on Black Friday.
"Black Friday was amazing," said Terri Karlsson, who owns the pet provisions store. "Literally we had our tongues hanging out by the end of the day."
Karlsson confessed she is hoping for even better business on Small Business Saturday.
Small businesses have faced a complicated couple of years between the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation, and supply chain issues. That is something that Karlsson knows all too well, considering she owns two businesses located near each other — CitiFid-O and The Tree & Vine, a gourmet food store that imports oils and balsamics from the Mediterranean.
That is why she feels confident in saying community support could be a matter of life or death for many shops.
"If you do not shop local, we will not be here," she said. "We depend on our local clientele. We need the community to support us because if we do not meet our goals we cannot stay in business."
Simeon Thress, a manager at Mahalo Coffee Roasters, said his store has also felt the impact of the past few years.
"With coffee prices, with all those things, with the shipments around the world, it is really hard to get good quality coffee right now," he said. "Your average cup of coffee is costing more and more."
According to the National Retail Federation, around 51 million shoppers across the country took part in Small Business Saturday in 2021. Bankrate, on the other hand, says nearly six in ten shoppers are expected to participate this year in Small Business Saturday.
Thress said he hopes his coffee shop gets to see some of that foot traffic.
"We definitely need the support to continue our growth, to be able to provide for the baristas that work for us and just continue to have a great rest of our year," he said.
For a list of some of the downtown businesses, you can support this weekend, click here.