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Networking Pick of the Week – Small Business Saturday Shop RI
Small Business Saturday Shop RI (SBSSHOPRI) Returns or 6th Year At Crowne Plaza – and this week it’s our Networking Pick of the Week, too! What’s better than shopping and networking – all together.
Small Business Saturday Shop RI (SBSSHOPRI) will be held on Saturday, November 26, 2022, from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. Now in its sixth year, this year’s event returns to the Crowne Plaza, in Warwick, with newly minted small businesses, unique gift items and specialty products.
“We are very pleased to announce that once again we are SOLD OUT for vendor space for this year’s Small Business Saturday SHOP RI event,” notes Sue Babin, event manager. “There’s an incredible listing of diverse businesses from across the state. The majority are returning vendors and there are new small businesses with a wide array of gift items shoppers will be interested in purchasing. Last year was a difficult one financially for small businesses in RI and this is everyone’s chance to come out and support our neighbors, friends and favorite businesses by SHOPPING SMALL!”
SBSSHOPRI, the all-under-one-roof, pop up mall, will host more than 150 vendors ranging from award-winning graphic artists, photographers, to designer crafts, jewelry, gourmet food items and other home-made specialties. Among the small businesses are: local entrepreneurs and small businesses, Farm Fresh RI, veterans, women and minority-owned businesses including people with disabilities, representing a culturally diverse population as well as a wide range of unique gift ideas for the upcoming holiday season.
Introduced in 2017, the event has increased in size and scope each year, last year alone having evolved to include Self Employment Business Classes, e-commerce tutorials to support vendors, and live interviews on Facebook to enhance exposure for small business owners. The RI Developmental Disabilities Council (RIDDC), a founder and sponsor of the event, had also developed and hosted on their website a Holiday Gift Guide that features the fledgling small business owners who have completed business start-up classes and a business plan, an addition that will continue this year.
ABOUT SBSSHOPRI
Members of the RI Developmental Disabilities Council (RIDDC), Veterans Business Outreach Centers (VBOC), The Center for Women and Enterprise (CWE) and the Small Business Administration (SBA) pioneered the initial effort. The RIDDC continued to provide business development classes, one-on-one professional business counseling and networking opportunities online for the community, information about outside vendor marketplaces in RI from April through November, as well as introduced online support for the vendors to create and promote e-commerce to help small businesses survive.