New items at the Freeman Store and Museum include Votes for Women ornaments. Photos by Lisa Fay/The Connection
Many local shops in Vienna celebrated Small Business Saturday by offering gift cards or discounts off their items and services. Stores in Vienna that participated inc.uded: Bards Alley, Elements Massage, Savvy Rest Natural Bedroom, Bikes @ Vienna, Aesthetic Medical Center, Colleen’s Creations LLC, Foster’s Grille, Generation Code, Potomac River Running, Pure Barre Vienna, Skintelligence, the Freeman Store and Museum, John Edwards Hair Design, Massage Envy, and Vienna Tech Help. As stores got ready for the busy shopping weekend, storekeepers began decorating their windows for the Vienna storefront decorating contest. Bards Alley participated by bringing the Polar Express to life right outside their store with classic Christmas reads hanging off of the structure. Karin’s Florist set up fashion forward floral dresses that looked like they were ready for the Saks Fifth Avenue windows in New York City. The Freeman Store and Museum continued with their tradition of decorating the exterior of the store with real pine garland and homemade red bows. At Caffè Amouri, it looked like Santa and his elves stopped off for a cup of joe before heading back to the North Pole. The holiday spirit has certainly landed in Vienna and it reminds residents to shop local; shop Vienna.
Small Business Saturday was created by American Express credit card company on Nov. 27, 2010. The idea behind the now annual holiday tradition was to help shape the way consumers shopped within their communities during the holiday season. Last year – 2017 – was the highest grossing year for Small Business Saturday: customers spent an estimated $12.9 billion in their communities.
Editor’s note: Of course, every day is Small Business Day at the Connection.