Central Florida workers prepare for Small Business Saturday

Day encourages holiday shopping at local stores

WINTER GARDEN, Fla. – When you walk into LiveTrends Boutique in downtown Winter Garden, you’ll see all sorts of plants, from small ones to big ones.

Small Business Saturday, which encourages holiday shopping at local stores the day after Black Friday, is Nov. 26, and workers said they are looking forward to seeing familiar -- and new -- faces.

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“I feel with small businesses, particularly in downtown Winter Garden, these are the heartbeat of the community. We’re here and we’re open the same day that other big businesses are, and our focus is just engaging with people and being your friendly neighborhood plant store,” said Kristen Robinson, of LiveTrends.

With Hurricane Ian and Hurricane Nicole hitting Central Florida this year, Robinson explained just how that affected some shoppers.

“We saw a little bit -- kind of right after the storms, obviously, people are working on rebuilding where they’re at. This area got a lot of flooding and power outages so there were some days directly after the storms that there was a little bit slower traffic,” Robinson said.

At the Ancient Olive Gourmet, workers are ready to offer some “tasty” discounts for Small Business Saturday.

“For this weekend, we are doing a sale on all of our balsamic vinegars, except for the 16-millimeter sizes,” said Scott Brown, of The Ancient Olive Gourmet.

Brown said there are six stores in Central and North Florida, and he explained how it’s important to provide a connection with customers.

“We have our regulars that come in. We contact them when we get products that they know they’re going to like. It’s developing that relationship to be a part of the community and be a part of the town here,” Brown said.


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About the Author

Ezzy Castro is a multimedia journalist on News 6's morning team who has a passion for telling the stories of the people in the Central Florida community. Ezzy worked at WFOR CBS4 in South Florida and KBMT in Beaumont, Texas, where she covered Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Being from Miami, Ezzy loves Cuban coffee and croquetas!

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