When many shoppers hit the stores today on Black Friday and on Small Business Saturday tomorrow, they’ll be making a conscious choice to shop with small businesses this year. With more Americans realizing the importance of supporting Main Street, sales increased 4.7% on average at independent businesses last year, with a 3.1% gain in the holiday season, according to the 2016 Independent Business Survey. And the 2016 shopping season is off to a strong start, which bodes well for small businesses. Behind the small businesses many of us embrace are often people who have overcome big odds to get started and keep going, day after day. In a world of big box stores and Amazon.com, it’s not easy to be a small, independent retailer.

Source: Forbes November 25, 2016 19:01 UTC