Small Business Saturday (for holiday shopping)

Is an initiative launched by American Express Open to promote holiday shopping at locally owned businesses. It makes sense to do this on a day separate from "Black Friday" (today) -- the day after Thanksgiving when big retail chains do special promotions with blowout prices and extremely early opening hours (e.g., Kohls opened at 3am).

It's almost impossible for small businesses and traditional commercial districts to counter-program against that and they shouldn't even bother, because it's difficult to get any business.

Instead of fighting it, it makes sense for smaller retail businesses to counter program but on a different day, and use it to emphasize your "unique selling proposition" -- more intimate experience, shorter lines, no chaos, unique goods, etc.