Copyright WDIV ClickOnDetroit
DETROIT – The holiday season is officially here, and that means it’s time to find the perfect gifts. But you don’t have to go far or deal with the crowds to do it. Shopping local not only helps the community thrive, but it also lets you give gifts that are truly unique -- just like the people you’re shopping for. “Oh my goodness, they have everything you can think of food, to massage. It’s amazing,” Marie Smith, a shopper, said. You might not even realize just how many small businesses span the Metro Detroit area. Andrea Phillpotts said, “Now that the city is re-energized, we tell everybody catch up with us because we have been on this bandwagon a long time.” Business owners like Phillpotts are grinding day in and day out, trying to make a living and serve the people in their community. Michael Pleyte of Records Redone said, “I took an old hand rotary tool I got at a garage sale and wondered if it could cut a record. Now it’s 13 years later and this is what me and my wife do full time out of our house and we’ve upcycled probably 10,000 vinyl records that we buy at stores around Michigan.” To give businesses a platform to sell their products and get their name out, Jennyfer Crawford-Williams founded ‘All Things Detroit’ more than a decade ago. Jennyfer Crawford-Williams said, “This event is curated and created just for small businesses to educate people on the importance of shopping small.” Right now, Williams says small businesses are struggling more than ever. She added, “A lot of small businesses are closing right now, they’re shutting down, a lot of people are not going out and supporting because of what is going on in the economy. They don’t understand that small businesses are the backbone of the community, so without us, there is no community, right?” But events like this one give them a chance to change the story. Tomika Smith of Detroit Girls Rock said, “I was in Vegas last week and I had on all my Detroit Girls Rock apparel and there was so much love for the city.” These small businesses don’t just need your business during the holiday season, they need it year-round to keep their shops open.
