Mo’ Sugar Cupcakes will be among the many women-owned businesses to participate in Small Lady Business Saturday Nov. 28.
Two local women will celebrate this weekend’s Small Business Saturday with an inaugural event that honors female business owners.
Small Lady Business Saturday will take place Saturday, Nov. 28, noon to 4 p.m., at Studio 526, at 526 Grant St., and include boutique shopping, gourmet cupcakes, champagne, mini manicures and hand-made jewelry, all provided by women business owners, among a number of other offerings.
“As a small business owner myself, I wanted to be able to participate in the day, and also support other local small businesses,” says Lyndsey Marie, owner of traveling boutique b. lovely (www.shopblovely.com), whose specialty is the pop-up shopping event, and co-founder of the Saturday shopping experience. Building upon that, “it was a no-brainer to make this particular pop-up shop into a much bigger event that also celebrated many other local small business owners, and that guests could make a day of.”
Small Lady Business Saturday will feature women business owners mainly from the Akron area, although some will hail from Cleveland and Columbus. And while it’s hosted by women, the organizers encourage all family members to attend.
“I really liked the concept of supporting local businesses, instead of the over-commercialized Black Friday madness of big corporations,” says Morgan Gates, co-founder of Small Lady Business Saturday and owner of Akron-based Mo’ Sugar Cupcakes. “Lyndsey and I have collaborated on multiple events in the past, so it clicked for the both of us when we first came up with the idea of having our own large-scale Small Business Saturday event.”
Gates’ gourmet cupcakes will be sold this Saturday, along with craft coffee and tea, a mimosa bar and live music by Lindsay Dunphy and Kyndra Heischman.
“We wanted to bring a boutique style shopping experience to guests, meaning we did the curating of the businesses, making sure to not over-saturate the event with too many like vendors,” says Marie.
Shopping small has many advantages, say the event’s founders, including contributing to the local tax base, neighborhoods and even nonprofits. “Local and small businesses are the backbone of any community,” says Marie. “They are our neighbors, friends and family. Every time you support a locally owned business, not only are you helping to provide for that family (maybe music lessons for their kids or mortgage on their home), but you’re also helping to stimulate your local economy.”
Adds Gates: “An important aspect of shopping small for me is the concept of being able to support those who work hard to put so much effort into what they do, then be able to take pride in what they do.”
For info, visit the event’s Facebook page or follow @smallladybusinesssaturday on Instagram.
