Warwick, RI—The Small Business Saturday Shop RI (SBS Shop RI) committee announced today that they anticipate a September closing of vendor space for the annual holiday shopping event scheduled on Saturday, November 30, 2019. Only a few spaces remain available at the Crowne Plaza in Warwick, and all are single spaces only. Now in its third year, the event has drawn a cross-section of small business owners, including sixteen (16) individuals with developmental disabilities, six (6) veterans, seven (7) providers from Farm Fresh Rhode Island, plus women and other minorities. Equally diverse are products and service offerings. They range from art and jewelry to home-made food and hand-made décor to farm fresh products. Interested vendors are encouraged to complete the application, including the $70 registration fee as soon as possible. More than twenty-five hundred shoppers from Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut attended last year, a twenty-five percent increase over the previous year.
SBS Shop RI Co-Chair Sue Babin reports, “We have a great variety of businesses represented this year, with more than one hundred vendors and several taking two tables for more display space. While we have vetted each application since we began, the growing popularity of this event has broadened the scope of businesses. Shoppers will be surprised at the variety, especially those who are returning for the third year.”
Applications are still available online at http://www.sbsshopri.com. The registration fee is now $70 until the limit of vetted and accepted applications is reached.
“The momentum built quickly this year, but we weren’t expecting to be nearly sold out two months early,” notes Robert Killian, the event’s co-chair and business manager. “With approximately 70% of our vendors returning, – 30% newcomers, we certainly have a great endorsement, as well as proof of the event’s reputation and results.”
In addition to the opportunity to build their business at this venue, participants have an opportunity to strengthen all aspects of their business by participating in a series of six classes, offered at no cost, throughout the year. Initiated last year, the classes the fourth round are launching in early September, having more than forty business owners already completed the series.
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Introduced in 2017, SBS Shop RI is the first event of its kind nationally. Small business owners are now under one roof for the one-day event, creating a very convenient holiday shopping pop-up mall. The vendors range from artists, Social Venture Enterprises, Farm Fresh RI, veterans, and minority-owned businesses and represent a diverse population and a wide range of unique gift ideas.
Members of the RI Developmental Disabilities Council, Veterans Business Outreach Centers, The Center for Women and Enterprise and the Small Business Administration pioneered the effort and continue to provide teaching and one-on-one professional business counseling to support the participants.
To learn more or to apply online, visit http://www.sbsshopri.com. Hard copy applications can be found at the web site and are to be mailed to: Small Business Saturday Shop RI, C/O RIDDC, 400 Bald Hill Road, Suite 515, Warwick, RI 02886. Entry fee: $70.00 and must be submitted at time of application together with separate document for City of Warwick non-profit Arts & Crafts license. Those applicants that are not accepted for participation will receive full refunds. No refunds will be provided for business/vendor cancellations.