DETROIT (WXYZ) — According to the National Retail Federation, an estimated 182 million people are expected to shop this holiday weekend.
However, according to a survey by Prosper Insights and Analytics, only 24% of shoppers say they plan to shop small businesses.
It's a disappointing statistic for our downtown areas, which rely on shoppers. So at the Avenue of Fashion in Detroit, the nonprofit Black Leaders Detroit is offering an incentive for people to shop downtown.
Friday, they gave out dozens of gift cards at the Avenue of Fashion for free.
Half of the gift cards were $50 and could be used toward certain downtown retail shops.
The other half of the gift cards were $10 and could be used toward certain downtown dining businesses.
Dwan Dandridge is the founder and CEO of Black Leaders Detroit. Talking about small businesses, Dandridge told 7 Action News, "They can’t compete with the larger box stores that do a lot of marketing and get a lot of their sales on Black Friday, so we feel like this will be a good way to draw some attention."
It certainly did.
We spoke with many shoppers who came downtown for the giveaway and stayed to shop.
Among the shoppers were Keturah and Jacquelyn West, who told us they were now planning to only shop local this holiday season.
The business is incredibly important for downtown shops like Wayne McGibbon Clothier.
Owner Wayne McGibbon told us people coming down over the next month makes it so, "we can stay here, we can be here."
