Dane Co. businesses commemorate Small Business Saturday

DANE COUNTY, Wis. (WMTV) - For 13 years, communities nationwide have taken the Saturday after Thanksgiving to celebrate small businesses.

Small business owner and executive director of Dane Buy Local Colin Murray said an appreciation for small, local businesses is what makes Dane County so unique.

“When you hear about some national publications saying why it’s great to live in Madison and they list all the different reasons, it’s not because we have the biggest Walmart or a fancy Target, it’s all these individual, local businesses that make it different here and make it special than anywhere else,” Murray said.

He said each customer interaction is different.

“When you go into a local business, these are an experience that you’re going to have when you walk in the door and you never quite know what’s going to happen, right?”

Carol Schroeder, co-owner of Madison specialty store Orange Tree Imports said it’s not only conversations with shoppers that are personalized, but products too.

“We know Madison, we know our customers, we know what our customers want, and we can reflect that, we can reflect the values of our community,” she said. “We have some Christmas ornaments this year that you probably won’t see anywhere else because we know that these are things that our customers will like and that maybe speak to their Wisconsin soul in a special way.”

You might just take something home you weren’t planning to leave with!

“When you come in here you get to have the joy of serendipity; finding something you didn’t know you wanted,” Schroeder said.

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