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Small Business Saturday takes on box stores

Small Business Saturday is a national promotion sponsored by American Express as a way to support small, local businesses during the busy holiday season.

The new after-Thanksgiving shopping "holiday" began in 2010 as a way to offset its bigger counterparts Black Friday and Cyber Monday, which focus more on big retail chains and online shopping.At the time, American Express started a radio and television campaign urging shoppers to also consider shopping locally for their holiday needs.Since then, the initiative has caught the attention of numerous legislators and small-business groups, including the United States Small Business Administration and the Better Business Bureau.It has grown into a nationally recognized shopping day that helps kick off the holiday season. It even has its own hashtags: #ShopSmall and #SmallBizSat.In 2011, the U.S. Senate officially recognized Small Business Saturday in Senate Resolution 320, and millions of shoppers turned out and participated in the second annual event.By 2012, the event was bringing in an estimated $5.5 billion to local businesses, according to American Express.Most recently, the United States Small Business Administration is partnering with the National Restaurant Association to promote dining out during Small Business Saturday as well.The partnership encourages local restaurant patronage during the national push to support local businesses this weekend.Diners can share their dining stories using #DineSmall, and the SBA has launched a social media campaign called #ShowUsYourMenu, where restaurants are asked to create a special Small Business Saturday menu and promote it on social media sites using the above hashtag.For more information and maps of businesses that will be participating this weekend, visit

www.smallbusinesssaturday.com or

http://www.facebook.com/SmallBusinessSaturday.

Copyright 2014