The Purple Avocado owners Stan and Sue Jones, back, provide customer service at their register on Friday at their location, 904 N. Curry St. in Carson.
Small Business Saturday for Carson City businesses comes quickly, but often has a longer-lasting impact than just a day for places like the Purple Avocado, said owners Stan and Sue Jones on Friday.
“People have told us they want to do all their shopping locally,” Sue Jones said.
The couple, now in business for 18 years, said the holiday shopping season is the best time of year for them with residents entertaining guests, family and friends for the traditional celebrations.
Like other locally owned stores and restaurants, the Purple Avocado gift shop at 904 N. Curry St., offering magnets, cards, jewelry and collectibles, typically depends on word of mouth from its regulars and foot traffic from children seeking that perfect gift for mom or friends, Sue Jones said.
Small Business Saturday, typically held after Thanksgiving to encourage shoppers to support local brick-and-mortar businesses, launched in 2010 and coincides with Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Giving Tuesday. The retail event also hearkens to mind businesses that might have been struggling to grab customers with recent road construction issues.
Social media has been a strong tactic to remind shoppers to frequent places who lack the larger budgets of bigger retailers to compete to gain name recognition.
Sue Jones said Facebook has been helpful in getting the Purple Avocado’s name out in recent years.
“We make sure our merchandise changes, the trends here change … and we try to keep it fun and fresh,” she said. “Last year, we had a lot of support from the community and we greatly appreciate it.”
Part-time worker Kylie Jensen, who has worked at the Purple Avocado for six years, said she enjoys the community aspect of working with small business owners such as the Joneses.
“It’s very much like family here,” she said.
Other businesses began their holiday push on Black Friday, such as Carson City Art Gallery & Pottery, which is offering a storewide sale from Black Friday through Dec. 29.
Works from several artists in the store will be discounted 20 to 50 percent.
The gallery also is holding a reception for some of its artists on Saturday from 1 to 5 p.m.
Carson City Art Gallery & Pottery is located at 110 S. Curry St. and is open from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday.
Nevada Appeal reporter Anne Knowles contributed to this report.