Saturday is devoted to smaller stores

With the bonanza of Black Friday behind them, shoppers on Saturday converged on mom-and-pop shops in celebration of buying local during the holiday season.

This year, as in past years, stores in Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, Huntington Beach and Laguna Beach took part in Small Business Saturday, a promotion that American Express created in 2010 to help small brick-and-mortar businesses compete with big-box retailers and online shopping during the holidays.

In Costa Mesa, South Coast Collection and the OC Mix offered discounts, giveaways, live music, gift wrapping and 250 complimentary gift bags for shoppers from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday.

Shoppers who spent at least $50 received raffle tickets for a chance to win up to $500 worth of gift cards. Donations received for gift-wrapping services during the free community event benefited Project Hope Alliance — a Costa Mesa-based nonprofit organization focused on ending childhood homelessness.

Shoppers who made purchases at stores in the Harbor View, Newport North, The Bluffs, Corona del Mar Plaza, Crystal Cove, Newport Coast and Newport Hills shopping centers in Newport Beach earned a $10 gift card for every $100 they spent.

On Balboa Island’s main drag, Marine Avenue, several shops took part in Small Business Saturday. Art for the Soul, which offers collections of jewelry, art and home decor pieces, offered free journals and decorative letters to customers who made a purchase. At the old-fashioned candy shop Balboa Candy, shoppers were given a 10% discount on Saturday.

In Huntington Beach, shoppers flocked downtown to support local shops and received free items and discounts.

In the past three years, Small Business Saturday in Laguna Beach has grown from 26 to 151 participating businesses, according to the Laguna Beach Chamber of Commerce.

“It’s a huge economic driver for the city and is really important for the brick-and-mortar retailers and restaurants in town,” chamber President Larry Nokes said of the annual Saturday event during a City Council meeting earlier this month.

Businesses offered a variety of deals while the chamber added a new element this year — a “passport” that shoppers got stamped at various businesses, even if they did not purchase anything.

The chamber distributed passports to merchants and hotels and included them in copies of a local newspaper.

Six stamps earned the person a chance to win prizes, such as the grand prize of a two-night bed-and-breakfast stay at The Ranch at Laguna Beach with a round of golf included, according to the chamber’s website.

A random drawing will determine the winners, whom the chamber will announce Wednesday on Facebook.