Saturday, November 29, on Thanksgiving Weekend is Indies First/Small Business Saturday, one of the busiest days for independent bookstores across the U.S., drawing huge amounts of customers.
Indies First began with the idea of authors being in independent bookstores to greet customers, promote indie bookstores, do events, sign their books, and more. But in connection with Small Business Saturday, the concept of celebrating indies has expanded dramatically over the last decade. Many booksellers offer "blind date" gifts, passport arrangements with other bookstores and local retailers of all kinds, toasts, food & drink, special merchandise, and discounts both in-store and online (sometimes geared to loyal customers). A common theme is booksellers' knowledge and ability to find personal, thoughtful gifts for customers. (See what some stores are planning this year below.)
The American Booksellers Association is offering a variety of resources and help for booksellers as they prepare for Indies First. They include posters for display and social media assets and a listing of special publishers' offers for Indies First.
Other organizations continue to join in. Bookshop.org will again offer free shipping over the holiday weekend. Libro.fm is holding a sale on bestselling audiobooks that runs from November 25 to December 1, and has social media assets that tie in to Indies First/SBS as well as Plaid Friday and Cyber Monday. (More information about Libro.fm's offers is available on the Bookseller Hub.)
Origin Stories
American Express began Small Business Saturday in 2010 as a way to highlight local bricks-and mortar stores of all kinds at the start of the holiday season and as a counterpoint to Black Friday and Cyber Monday, which have always featured big box stores and online sales, respectively. Over the years, American Express has invested heavily in the event, advertising it widely (and sometimes featuring bookstores!), and Small Business Saturday has become a major part of American Express's Shop Small Movement. The company estimates that since Small Business Saturday's founding, consumers have spent an estimated $200 billion at small businesses on SBS. American Express offers small businesses a variety of suggestions for expanding marketing, operations, and more. It also has a Shop Small Map on which bookstores can be listed.
In 2013, the American Booksellers Association founded Indies First, an idea that started when Janis Segress, at the time one of the owners of Queen Anne Book Company in Seattle, Wash., suggested to author Sherman Alexie that authors promote their favorite indies on Small Business Saturday after Alexie was "bookseller-for-a-day" when Queen Anne reopened that year. Alexie liked the idea and wrote to other authors about it, which he dubbed Indies First. The ABA immediately picked up on the suggestion and began promoting and organizing for it.
Related events that extol the values of diverse, local, and independent businesses are Plaid Friday and Cider Monday, bookending the Thanksgiving weekend. Plaid Friday is a direct alternative to Black Friday, offering a calm and peaceful experience supportive of indies in contrast to the frenzy that's usually marked Black Friday. Bookselelrs are encouraged to wear plaid, take pictures of customers and staff wearing plaid, use a plaid theme in wrapping, displays, etc.
In a similar way, Cider Monday promotes a more laidback, human atmosphere in stores on a day when many people furiously shop online. Cider Monday was founded in 2013 by Willard Williams, formerly of Toadstool Bookshops in New Hampshire. As he put it, "Stop in for a free cup of cider and a snack, see some real people, and have a good time checking out what's in our stores. It's sure to be a heartwarming experience. We can promise no crashing websites, our 'servers' won’t be overloaded, and we bet they will even smile at you!"