The Greater Philadelphia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce is selecting five Latino owned businesses to promote holiday shopping as part of Small Business Saturday beginning on November 26^th.

Small Business Saturday is a national campaign that promotes holiday shopping in locally owned small businesses during the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  On average, Americans spend $804.00 on holiday shopping and a third of Latino consumers will be spending more this holiday season. Just last year consumers spent $5.7 billion dollars on Small Business Saturday.

In a civic economics study, by spending $100 at a local business, about $68 stays in the local economy.  If you spend the same amount in a larger non-local business, only $43 stays in the local economy.

There are over 8,000 Latino owned businesses in Philadelphia with a majority of them dedicated to service, food and retail.  The GPHCC believe that these businesses need a strong holiday season to not only boost the family income but also bring a positive impact to their neighborhoods.

Jimmy Duran, Director of programs for the GPHCC created this pilot program with the help of American Express and Customers Bank.  The GPHCC became a community supporter of the concept regarding Small Business Saturday.

“We gave out the marketing material and had a technical assistance conference call with a few Latino business owners”, said Duran “We shared with them the concept of Small Business Saturday, how to take advantage of the promotion and investment being made, and how to maximize their opportunities.”

Originally there were 14 businesses that were looked at to be a part of the pilot program but only five participated in the conference call. Duran is taking these five businesses under his care by means of communication, marketing materials, opening twitter accounts for their businesses, and create an event that will draw more customers to their business.  The one thing these businesses had in common is that they never truly heard of the campaign even though is has been in existence since 2010.

The five businesses that have enrolled in the second phase of this Pilot program are:

Fabio’s Chicken – 4805 Front Street

Sazon Restaurant & Café – 941 Spring Garden Street

Mole Poblano Restaurant – 144 S. 9^th Street

Amigos Bakery – 2327 S. 12^th Street

Guate Gualan Restaurant – 182 W. Olney Avenue

Duran feels that if this is successful, the GPHCC will be looking to expand this program next year to other Latino owned businesses throughout the city. “As we continue to educate, share and show the before and after effects of Small Business Saturday, I believe their will be more enrollment for next year…I’m very excited about it.”