HARRISONBURG, Va -- A day that is all about helping our local economy is only a week away. It is called “Small Business Saturday.” The point is to bring customers to small businesses that may be overlooked on Black Friday.

Greer Johnson owns 'Duo,' a small clothing store in downtown Harrisonburg. She said she is excited to get ready for Small Business Saturday, since it is only a week away.

"We've participated every year it's been available and we've noticed it's gotten bigger as more people become aware of Small Business Saturday and how important it is to shop locally," said Johnson.

Even though more big stores are opening up earlier on Thanksgiving, before Black Friday, Johnson said she is not concerned that people won't still go shopping and support these local businesses.

"I think people are more aware of how important it is to support local business, so I think they're more likely to wait an extra day and do some of their holiday shopping in local stores rather than going to the mall and dealing with all the traffic and the crowds."

Instead of shopping at big stores on Black Friday, Johnson said you will have a better experience if you visit your small, local stores on Saturday and many shoppers, like Sophie Thomas, agree.

"It's a good shift from large, corporate stores to smaller local businesses, supporting the people who are trying to make their income, their passion. It's good stuff," said Thomas.

Best of all, Johnson said every dollar you spend at local stores goes back into supporting the local economy.

"If you go and shop in a chain store, really our community is not going to see that money,” said Johnson. “So I don't think people think about that day to day so I think it's really important to remember everyone from this community benefits from shopping locally."

Johnson said they will have a special sale on Small Businesses Saturday, along with many other stores downtown. She said it is important to remind your friends to shop local too next Saturday since it's still a new trend.

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