Springfield businesses are preparing for Small Business Saturday

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — With Black Friday officially behind us, local businesses are gearing up for Small Business Saturday and hoping shoppers add them to their checklists.

It’s a day to encourage customers to shop local, and the manager of Fastbreak Sports is one of many businesses thanking the community for keeping an eye on the business over the years.

Tim Akins has worked with Fastbreak Sports for more than two decades and praises the Springfield community for continuing to participate in days like Small Business Saturday because it means the store continues to thrive.

“Just the fact that we’ve had the same owner for 32 years is very important to us as a sign of this community and support as a small business and it’s not lost on us,” Akins said.

According to the National Retail Federation, more than 64 million shoppers will participate in Small Business Saturday, and Akins is excited about the influx of customers Saturday morning.

“If you spend your $100 or $200 at a big box store, that money is going out of state, out of town,” Akins said. “But when you shop locally, especially at a store like Fastbreak, we’ve been in business since 1992, always the same owner. So Small Business Saturday is Fastbreak Sports.”

Akins said the store prepares for the holidays months in advance because it knows how quickly items sell out and wants to make sure every customer receives their orders.

“As a small business you have to find your niche and if you do that, we run all 32 NFL teams. We carry a lot of baseball teams. So you can’t just walk to Wal-Mart and find a Dodgers or Raiders sweatshirt, hat,” Akins said.

He said one of his favorite things about working at a small business is the fact that many of their customers have been the same for years.

“We have a very loyal customer base and a lot of people I’ve talked to say they’ve been shopping with us for 10, 15 or 20 years,” Akins said. “You can’t get that in a big store. At a local store like Fastbreak, you see the same employees and can have conversations. You talk together about your families, who goes to school, how well Nixa is doing in the football playoffs, and so on.”

The store was formerly located in Battlefield Mall, and even though foot traffic is no longer the same, customer loyalty remains.

“Now that we’re here, we feel more like Cheers,” Akins said. “People think of us as their local place where they can hang out and talk about their team.”

Other local businesses OzarksFirst spoke to said customers can take advantage of special offers on Saturday.