Black Friday: a day of frantic shopping for the best deals offered by the biggest companies – all competing for attention and control of your wallet. Sure, you might get a great deal but what does it save you in the end? Or perhaps what does it cost you…
Enter Small Business Saturday – the antithesis of Black Friday which occurs the very next day, Saturday. Started by American Express back in 2010, SBS encourages holiday shoppers to patronize brick and mortar businesses that are small and local. In it’s eighth year, the enthusiasm for shopping local has only seemed to grow as the impact of larger companies starts to reflect in our communities and for retailers like Elwood Adams which just closed it’s doors after 235 years of business as the country’s longest running hardware store. This story was heard near and far but there are too many that go unnoticed.
This brings us to Indies First – the celebration of “Indies” (e.g., Independent Bookstores) on Small Business Saturday. Spearheaded by author Sherman Alexie in 2013. It started with the question, “What can authors do to help the indies?” Over the Labor Day weekend, Alexie started the movement with a letter to a small group of authors, whom he called on to become “superhero[es] for independent bookstores.” This event has grown in size of the years with the support of the American Booksellers Association and other authors whom have embraced Sherman’s passion for supporting local bookstores.
And now to Libro.fm. The first (and only) audiobook company that enables local bookstores to sell over 75,000 audiobooks. This year marks our second Indies First promotion which offers over 60 audiobooks for over 50% off. The goal of this promotion, made possible by our publishers, is to drive business to our partner bookstores through audiobooks. In it’s second year, the discounted audiobooks can also be purchased as gifts and Libro.fm members get to combine their 30% off a la carte discount with the 50% off on Indies First for 80% off. You can browse the 60+ audiobooks here and get ready by adding them to your Wish List before November 25th.
In the end it’s simple: shopping local supports community, supports people, and keeps your favorite local businesses thriving.