BOZEMAN — Between the chaos of Black Friday and the madness of Cyber Monday sits Small Business Saturday. Staff at the Great Rocky Mountain Toy Company in Bozeman said it’s their favorite day of all.
“I’m just doing some Christmas shopping,” said Kayte Cole who has lived in Bozeman for about 5 years. “Most of the time you can find really cool stuff at the local shops.”
Cole lives near downtown, so she spends a lot of time window shopping.
“We always come downtown, get a coffee, check out the shops, and walk around,” said Cole.
On Friday, she was out shopping for gifts for her nieces and nephews.
“I just like to support all the local businesses in town,” said Cole.
She says she’ll be right back here for Small Business Saturday, doing just that.
“Instead of going on Amazon or going to those other places that do Black Friday basically for the entire month nowadays,” said the owner of the Rocky Mountain Toy Company, Sam Rickenbaugh, “I remember when it was just one day.”
It’s pretty busy in the store as customers pile in to get their Black Friday shopping done. Rickenbaugh says business is pretty good on Black Friday, but as for the Saturday after?
“Small Business Saturday is just consistently busy the whole day,” he said. “Having that Saturday is really important for our business and the rest of the downtown community.”
The Rocky Mountain Toy company is just one out of over 250 small businesses in Bozeman that are impacted by Small Business Saturday. People coming to support small business owners can expect free parking on top of great deals.
“We’re going to do 20 percent off the whole store,” said Rickenbaugh.
Rickenbaugh said she is expecting a big crowd as per usual.
“We say come early, it really helps us, our employees, and the community if everyone keeps local,” said Rickenbaugh.
And Cole agrees.
“I think it’s really important to support all the people that live and work here in Bozeman,” she said.
