Hubbard Building becomes makeshift store for students

Thomas Bowman
Staff Writer

The Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship was a hustle and bustle as college students ready their pop-up stores on Shop Small Saturday. On Nov. 30, students welcomed the shoppers of Downtown Mankato with warm apple cider and the selling of various local products from 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

This year, Shop Small Saturday celebrates its 10th year of supporting local businesses. It is always the last Saturday of the month, which means it can land anywhere between Nov. 24-30. Shop Small Saturday is an event created by American Express in 2010, in the midst of the recession, on the Saturday after Thanksgiving to encourage shoppers to do more holiday shopping at small locally owned businesses.

The event was supervised by the Director of the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Dr. Yvonne Cariveau. A shopper may wonder what the benefits are to shop locally.

“With every dollar spent at a local business, you know for sure that 67 cents will be staying in the community,” Dr. Cariveau said.

This is reassuring due to the fact then when spending money with big corporate companies you have little to no information on where your money will end up. When owning a small business, local business owners have pros and cons while managing their business. 

“You tend to work more hours,” Dr. Cariveau said. “But you get to choose when those hours are.”

The hours of work for a small business owner in a way acts like a double-edged sword. You could be working many more hours than the average worker, but you have the choice to organize your work calendar so that it’s the most comfortable for your lifestyle. A perk about owning a small business is having options on staffing. “You generally decide who you get to work with,” Dr. Cariveau said.

It takes a load off one’s shoulders knowing they don’t have to worry about dealing with that one annoying coworker.

Shop Small Saturday had many unique pop-up shops available to buy from. One of these pop-up shops was an organic bath bombs, bath salts and soy candle shop called Le Luxe de Sydney. This small local business is owned by a local teen entrepreneur named Sydney Marcia. She was inspired to create bath bombs that were natural and organic. Only a small fraction of bath bomb companies use organic ingredients. 

It is important to be aware of the local businesses, no matter where you are from. Small business owners make up the community around you.

Header photo: Vendors display their products at the Shop Small Saturday pop-up store at the Hubbard Building Thursday, Nov. 30, 2019 in Downtown Mankato, Minn. (Samuel Oluwadoromi/MSU Reporter)