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Small Business Saturday was a smashing success in Utah County.
“Small Business Saturday was very good for our businesses in Utah Valley,” said President and CEO of Utah Valley Chamber of Commerce Curtis Blair.
“I had a chance to track four or five of these over the last week, week and a half just to see what trends they were seeing, and on the whole, we are seeing very favorable responses from the consumer base that are engaging our small businesses this weekend.”
While the numbers aren’t all in yet, most small businesses saw a huge increase in sales from last year.
“It’s a pretty exciting weekend for them,” Blair said. “Much better than this time last year.”
The increase in sales was so great that businesses had a tough time keeping up.
“I don’t have exact percentages, but I can tell you that the overwhelming response was that their increases were so significant that they still remain woefully understaffed,” Blair said.
According to Blair, supply chain issues were not a problem for Small Business Saturday. He said businesses had enough food, as well as items to sell. The problem was not having enough staff to meet the demands.
Blair said there was a printing company in Provo that didn’t get a day off because of the amount of work.
“And they ended up working Thanksgiving Day, Friday and Saturday just to keep up,” he said.
Even as we move closer to Christmas, Blair said the supply chain situation won’t become a bigger problem.
“I didn’t hear that as often as I heard the concerns about having enough people to meet the demands,” he said.