The day after Black Friday

Two days after Thanksgiving and one day after Black Friday is an important day.

It is Shop Small Saturday.

Shop Small Saturday is an outgrowth of years of trying to promote small businesses. Many community papers have pushed a Shop Local or Shop your Hometown First theme for years.

This is a national, and natural, outgrowth of that.

It has been said many times, but small businesses really are the lifeblood of small communities.

The downtowns they occupy are often the center of town activity. Local businesses hire local people, and they support local causes and projects. Small businesses are at...