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Locals shop small in Fayetteville for Small Business Saturday

Shoppers visited downtown Fayetteville on Small Business Saturday to support their local shops.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Shoppers visited downtown Fayetteville on Small Business Saturday to support their local shops.

Sandi Formica is the wife of Lama Thinley Rapke who owns and operates the Himalayan Mountain Shop on N. Block Ave. in Fayetteville.

“We depend on Small Business Saturday. This is one of the biggest days of the year financially, to keep the shop open," said Formica. "November and December are more than half, probably like 75% of his sales."

Dolly Spooner from Derby line Vermont was visiting her son and his wife and decided to join in on the local shopping.

"I come from a really small town, and this is actually big to me. So it was really, really important in Vermont to support your local people. So I just found out you guys had it, too. So I decided I'd come and do that," said Spooner. "Everybody's been really friendly and accepting and visited with everyone that owns the store. So I've liked it a lot."

"We really appreciate all of our customers and everyone that shops local and supports the community of Fayetteville and Northwest Arkansas," said Formica.

Formica explained that this year was important for local businesses to recover after the pandemic put a strain on in-person shopping.

"He [Lama] used to have three times the space, no, five times the space, we had the downstairs and we close that during the pandemic. And so, you know, for this shop to remain open, we rely on the local customers and the tourists," said Formica. "It would be nice if people would see the downtown area more as a shopping destination. That would really help the small businesses."

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