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Triad shops local on 'Small Business Saturday'

The Triad is home to many small, locally owned businesses. Owners said they are honored to have support from the community they serve.

GREENSBORO, N.C. — There are more than 33 million small businesses across the United States. 

Here in North Carolina we have nearly 1,000,000 small businesses employing almost, 2 million people.

Small Business Saturday is an opportunity to highlight the importance of local.

"Small businesses really are the heart of every community, and more of every dollar spent in a small business stays in that community than at the large corporations," Alison Schwartz said. 

Schwartz is the co-owner of All Pets Considered in Greensboro. 

She credits support from the community for their success and allowing them the opportunity to give back.

"We giveaway over 400 charity donation baskets a year and the big guys in our community can't say that. They're not giving back to our community the way we are and we can only do that because our community continues to support us," Schwartz said.

"On Small Business Saturday, we are proud to have the largest collection of small businesses in the Triad," said Carly Gilmore with the Craftsmen's Christmas Classic. 

For 50 years, the Craftsman's Christmas Classic at the Greensboro Coliseum, has showcased local at its best.

The annual event draws vendors from across the Triad and across the country. 

"It's few and far between how many people are this talented these days. This is a lot of work, so it's always nice to have the community support, and to know that it's mutually beneficial between the small businesses and the customers that come in to do the shopping to find something unique, that you can't find anywhere else in, that was not mass produced," Gilmore said. 

Dexter Covington and his wife have created works of art for 52 years. 

With the growing popularity of online shopping, Covington said Small Business Saturday is an opportunity to highlight people in the community that have some of the biggest impacts. 

"Some of these people have several employees. I've known people before and they had as many as 16 employees out here. This is what America is all about," Covington said. 

"We just would love to thank our community for coming out and supporting us all these years and continuing to support the work that we do," Schwartz said. 

The 50th Annual Craftsman's Christmas Classic will offer 50% off admission to shop with their local vendors on Sunday. The event will be open from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Sunday. 

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