Buying local: The ‘Super Bowl’ for Milford small businesses
The market includes 100 different shops around the Milford Green and inside the Taylor Library.
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In what has now become an annual tradition, the Milford Downtown Business Association hosted its Small Business Saturday Pop-Up Market, helping local shops take advantage of a day that Pam Pargen, who owns Pargen's Paradise, says "is the Super Bowl for us."
"We're lucky in Milford," said Tracy Bonosconi, the president of the MDBA, "We have coffee shops, and we have clothing stores and we have restaurants, and people really support local here."
The market includes 100 different shops around the Milford Green and inside the Taylor Library. Another 30 storefronts across the city also get involved.
"All the big places get our money on Black Friday. It's a really nice way ahead of the holiday season to make sure all of the local business owners are supported," said Victoria Greene, a shopper from Westchester who was visiting family in Milford.
"Having all of us here in one place makes it much more convenient and easy," added Lauren Cirkot, in front of her tent, Seven Continents.
Most of the people there agreed it was nice to have one central place to get a head start on their holiday shopping, including Milford resident James Carbone who said he appreciated the handcrafted goods.
“It means a lot more than something device-worthy or something like that," he said.
To give shoppers even more motivation to spend, the DMBA also handed out punch cards, which people could then trade in for a free tote bag if they bought things from two different member businesses.
"It's so nice to be able to have an event like this where it's promoted and people know that they're going be buying local," Cirkot said.
