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South Florida Shops On Small Business Saturday

MIAMI (CBSMiami/AP) – Now that Thanksgiving has past and Black Friday has come and gone, it's time for small businesses to shine with the Small Business Saturday movement.

Small Business Saturday, founded in 2010 by American Express, is the day after Black Friday and is dedicated to all the local mom and pop shops across the country.

Several businesses across South Florida joined the movement by hosting activities and having incentives to help encourage the community to "shop small."

Shopping at small local stores serves as a boost not only for the economy, but for the community as well.

For the first time, according to CBS4's news partner the Miami Herald, the Wynwood Arts District Association's group of 126 small businesses participated in the movement with a street art program. Just before the start of Art Basel, the program will unveil a Shop Small mural created by local artists.

"We have such a diversity of hip, cool, edgy businesses in Wynwood, and we want to educate people that there are great opportunities to purchase unique items and gifts," Jose Nava, director of the Wynwood Arts District Association told the paper. "We want to create that culture of people buying in small businesses."

Some shoppers that buy into the movement actually avoid the malls on Black Friday.

"I've always avoided it. I'm kind of against the whole thing and what it's all about I'd rather just enjoy and relax and maybe hit the racks after the fact," Jill Letterman, a shopper in Wynwood, told CBS4's Jamie Guirola. "It's great if the little guys get a chance to make some money and really raise awareness for their products."

Small businesses say they offer something that large retailers can't—customized and unique service and products.

"You're not gonna be running through the doors with a hundred other people storming in trying to get those sales," Rocco Carulli, a business owner in Wynwood, told Guirola.

From Coral Gables to Broward, even down in Monroe County where the plan was to have a block party with free food from local restaurants, local businesses joined-in hoping to cash-in on the movement.

Beyond South Florida, across the country, shoppers in support of the movement headed to small shops—including President Obama.

The president, along with daughters Malia and Sasha, stopped by a local bookstore in Washington and purchased a "long list" of books.

US-POLITICS-OBAMA
US President Barack Obama and daughters Malia (R) and Sasha (C) prepare to leave the Politics and Prose bookstore in Washington on November 30, 2013 after buying books as part of Small Business Saturday. AFP PHOTO/Nicholas KAMM (Photo credit should read NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)

The president, who tweeted Saturday in support of the movement, said he bought a reader for every age, from 5 to 52.

(©2013 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. CBS4 news partner The Miami Herald contributed material for this report.)

(TM and © Copyright 2013 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2013 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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