Shopping small-biz Saturday in the Gayborhood makes good sense

Black Friday, Cyber Monday and now stores opening on Thanksgiving are getting the lion’s share of the press, so it’s good to be reminded that this is the fifth year for Small Business Saturday — a special day that is supposed to encourage people to shop at small, local businesses on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

All of that aside, there are plenty of LGBT-owned or LGBT-run businesses in the Gayborhood, and it makes good sense to shop small for a variety of reasons. A primary reason, of course, is how much money stays in the community. It is estimated that 55 percent of dollars spent locally stay local, unlike box-store chains and Amazon, where the bulk goes to fat-cat corporations.

PAT @ Giovanni’s Room manager Alan Chelak offered a broader assessment.

“It gives the small locally owned independent businesses a chance to say, ‘Hey, you know that crazy stuff that happens on Black Friday? We’re different from that,’” said Chelak. “Come out and support locally what’s happening in your neighborhood because it’s good for everybody. A person can get anything they want off the Internet but there’s nothing fun about that. Shopping is a cultural experience that brings people together, so if you’re not coming into stores and shopping, you’re missing out on a part of that culture.”

PAT @ Giovanni’s Room is also having a first-time storewide sale that Saturday. They have had 20-percent off clothes or 20-percent off used books at times, but that day they will have 20 percent off everything in the store.

Chelak said there’s one other big reason to shop there.

“When you shop here at Philly AIDS Thrift at Giovanni’s Room, all of the proceeds that we make are going to help people.”

PAT recently announced that sometime after the first of the year ,it will top the $1-million dollar mark for donations to HIV/AIDS agencies.

Just a few doors down from PAT @ GR is Janus On Pine.

Janus has an eclectic assortment of one-of-a-kind art, antiques and hand-selected items. Proprietor Maria DiElsi said there is something for everyone, and most of it you won’t find in large stores or on the Internet.

“I specialize in vintage and I have some antique home furnishings and a gallery,” DiElsi said. “Right now, I have a collection of engravings and wood blocks all priced very reasonably. And I mix new things in with the vintage things so there are some beautiful, beautiful linens and wonderful, whimsical giant coffee mugs.”

Steve Duross at Duross & Langel (117 S. 13th St.) noted that, for small businesses, every shopping day is important.

“We’re a local Philadelphia company,” Duross said, “and we manufacture our own stuff, so small-business Saturday is every day here at Duross & Langel.”

Their hand-made soaps and lotions will tempt your eye, nose and wallet if you’re looking for a nice personal-care item.

Other Gayborhood businesses up and down 12th and 13th streets include Absolute Abstract, Danny’s, Go Popcorn Company, I. Goldberg, Kitchenette, Open House, Paper on Pine, Spruce Street Video and Verdi. All of them see a large number of LGBT shoppers during the holidays, likely due to the proximity to the gay bars and restaurants.

And that makes the Gayborhood an ideal place to spend Small Business Saturday.

 

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