November 26, 2011 is Small Business Saturday, a counterpart to Black Friday and Cyber Monday, which tend to benefit major big box retail and e-commerce stores.
Small Business Saturday encourages holiday shoppers to buy from businesses that are small and local.
I believe in shopping local, and supporting small businesses. But not all brick-and-mortar business are small, and not all online retailers are huge soulless corporations.
So if you are planning on buying bikes or cycling accessories, try your local bike shop first. If that store doesn’t have the selection you need, try a small online business that specializes in cycling accessories. For example… Give me a second… One is bound to come to mind…
Campfire Cycling! That’s a good example. Which happens to be the company that runs Commute by Bike. With fewer than ten employees, I think we qualify as small.
We’ve launched our holiday sale, by the way.
We believe the more you cycle, the more you improve your quality of life.
Okay, maybe there’s an optimum level cycling for each of us. Perhaps at some theoretical point there’s even a diminishing rate of return on the degree to which you have incorporated cycling into your life. (You do need to sleep and eat from time to time.) But most of us are nowhere near the optimum.
Find that ideal for yourself and for your gift recipients. Find it locally if you can, and from a small online business if you can’t.