Customers show support for Small Business Saturday

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Small Business Saturday means big business for entrepreneurs, and this year across Minneapolis, shoppers opened their wallets to support businesses and the community values they represent. 

Colet Campbell came to the Midtown Global Market to look for holiday gifts for her family and friends, but she didn’t expect to walk away with about 20 pieces of art that touched her soul.

"These are things that matter to us and stories that we don’t always hear," she told FOX 9 reporter Babs Santos. 

Campbell was struck by the story and history of Frog Tree Farm, a multigenerational black-owned farm focused on anti-racism, social justice and sustainability. Two and a half hours north on their 150 acres, they remained scrap pieces of wood, turning them into the faces of influential black leaders and civil rights activists.

"I was just wowed by all of the art and representation of Black history and storytelling," Campbell said. 

Meanwhile, across town at the Minneapolis Craft Market, Kelsey Zahvaydra was selling honey soaps, popular beeswax candles, and herb cooking salts produced on her woman-owned, woman-run boutique farm that is located an hour north of Minneapolis near Taylor Falls.

"One woman, five acres," she quipped. 

For this farmer, Small Business Saturday is one day out of the year that can bring in weeks of business.

"It’s a big deal, and it really helps that more and more people are promoting it," Zahvaydra said.