Small Business Saturday

For the first time in PJP history, we’ve decided to open on the Saturday following Thanksgiving so that we can participate in Small Business Saturday. Historically, we’ve never attempted to darken the doorstep of PJP after baking hundreds and hundreds of pies in the preceding days…mainly because we are exhausted, but mostly because we presumed most people have had their fill of pie over the holiday.

All that said, PJP Nifong is a whole new girl from PJP Buttonwood. Our foot traffic from shoppers in neighboring stores and just our general visibility from Nifong Boulevard has brought us all sorts of new friends, many of whom have asked about pie availability on the weekend after the holiday. And our front windows are full of all the fun and cute merchandise that we’ve started to carry in the store. (Our best selling item so far? ASTROLOGY PENCILS. Interesting, no?). And all that makes a solid case for opening on that Saturday to see exactly how it goes for us. I’m certain Team PJP thinks I’ve lost my mind.

Interestingly enough, the idea of Small Business Saturday was created by American Express, presumably to encourage people to spend money on their American Express credit cards on the day after heavy spending on Black Friday. And there is so much we could say about the actual need in our culture to mark a certain day to focus on shopping small, but that is likely an entirely separate post, one that pairs nicely with why schools need fundraisers to buy playground equipment, but professional athletes never want for the newest and best equipment. Ahem.

I belong to a Facebook group of small businesses all over the United States and Canada and it is a forum to discuss all sorts of interesting ideas and problems. A big topic this week has been Small Business Saturday and what exactly to do to make it special and celebration worthy. And GOODNESS, I needed to rest my head on my desk and contemplate a Xanax after reading a lot of the comments. People hire musicians, invite clowns, construct dog kissing booths, and that’s just the start. The best part of that forum is that you rarely know what sort of store the person owns unless they say, so I’m still thinking about the backstory to a dog kissing booth.

At any rate, here’s what we’ve decided: we will make all the pie…and not just the Thanksgiving week pies. And we will fill the store with new merchandise, plus if you purchase $50 in merchandise then you get to take home a free baby pie. We are also going to bake up a huge batch of Jeanne’s delicious cookies and sample those all day. I’m 100% referring to this post to refresh my memory when Thanksgiving threatens to make me forget everything. Don’t let me forget.