MILTON, Mass. — The holiday deals and discounts are already out there—and this year, more small businesses are taking part in a promotion called ‘Pink Friday’.
The goal is to get shoppers to support local businesses—ahead of the big box stores on Black Friday.
It’s hard to believe, but the holiday shopping season is upon us and hoppers are already crossing items off their lists.
“We have wrapped Christmas gifts here in as early as August,” said Calli McPherson, owner of William James gift shop.
Calli McPherson owns William James gift shop in Milton. She’s noticed the holiday shopping season has expanded beyond Black Friday—but sometimes small businesses haven’t been able to capitalize.
“So small business owners were noticing that their customers were spending a lot of their holiday budgets on Black Friday in the big box stores,” said McPherson. “And then we’re going out to support local businesses on Small Business Saturday, which is great, except that people were shopping with their leftover budget.”
That’s why McPherson’s store and 10,000 other small businesses across the country are taking part in Pink Friday. It’s the Friday before Black Friday—and encourages shoppers to support small before they go big.
“The sales that happen at big box stores are something that small businesses aren’t able to offer,” said McPherson. “So we do what we can to you know support and to offer fun discounts and events and stuff like that to bring people in but we also think it’s super important to support the community that supports us.”
The National Retail Federation estimates holiday sales will increase by about 4% this year compared to 2024—with Deloitte predicting e-commerce to grow between 7 and 9%.
“Ever since really covid, we’ve had an issue where consumers really are changing their spending habits,” said Jon Hurst, The President and CEO of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts. “So much of it happens to be right through smartphone. A lot of it delivered to the front door. We developed habits during covid that unfortunately are hurting a lot of small businesses.”
Massachusetts Retailers Association President and CEO Jon Hurst says before the pandemic, about 20% of all retail sales were online—now it’s projected to be about 40% this holiday season.
“You’ve got to convince the consumer over and over and over again that it matters where they spend their money,” said Hurst. “They’ve got to shop like jobs depend on it because frankly they do.”
Hurst believes getting shoppers in early and often will only help.
“A third of all retail sales are impulse buys,” said Hurst. “Those don’t occur if you don’t get them through the front door in the first place.”
The rising costs of doing business, coupled with tariffs and dollar-conscious shoppers, have made it a more challenging environment, but small business owners like McPherson hope people take advantage of Pink Friday promotions and incentives.
“So whether it’s a gift, whether it’s a gift certificate, I just really encourage people to look local before they look to the big box stores,” said McPherson.
Small businesses will still be taking part in Small Business Saturday, which Hurst says continues to grow and be successful. While many people are out holiday shopping early, Hurst says the biggest sales continue to be the weekend before Christmas.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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