EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — Saturday marked Small Business Saturday, a day created more than a decade ago to draw attention to the independent merchants and retailers across the country who depend on holiday sales to stay afloat another year.
This year, Gov. Greg Abbott showed his support for small businesses by urging Texans to shop small, shop local and help support businesses in their community. It’s more important than ever this year, as the COVID-19 crisis slashed sales for weeks in many places.
“Texas is proud of the strong small business community in our state,” Abbott said. “Small businesses account for more than 99 percent of all businesses here in Texas and employ millions of Texans throughout the entire state. As our state responds to COVID-19, these businesses need our support more than ever.”
El Paso’s small businesses spoke about the importance of the supporting local businesses, not just during a pandemic, but always.
“It helps with out local economy,” said Andrew Candelaria, an employee at the West side location of Chuco Relic. “It also helps everyone that lives in town. It’s also keeping people employed and also keeping the business running.”
At Nudha Boutique at the Shops at Montecillo in West El Paso, employee Kayla Lininger said the day was slower than projected.
“Yeah, I was expecting a lot of people actually,” Lininger said. “We opened up early because we thought we were going to get a good amount of people here but honestly due to COVID we haven’t been getting a lot of people.”
When shopping in-person, El Pasoans are urged to protect themselves and loved ones from the spread of COVID-19 by wearing a face covering, frequently sanitizing their hands and social distancing.
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