Small Business Saturday: Celebrate Big Saturday, Nov. 25 by Shopping Small

Starting in 2010 as a marketing effort by American Express, Small Business Saturday gave a kick-start to the “local-first” movement and created a new shopping holiday we can all feel good about getting behind. I love to shop small all year, but the official holiday is celebrated on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Think of it as a detox from all the time and money you will spend at big box retailers on Black Friday. If the fun and innovative products, services, and food are not enough to convince you to shop small, think of the positive impact it makes on our community. It helps businesses in Newport Beach grow, creates jobs for residents, and your tax dollars stay here to be reinvested right back into the community.

Newport Beach has a strong collective of creative entrepreneurs, with so many great businesses dotting our beautiful stretch of coastline. You’ll find one-of-a-kind stores along Marine Avenue on Balboa Island, in Lido Marina Village and Balboa Village on the peninsula, and lining the PCH in Corona del Mar. From clothing retailers to candy stores, here’s a quick list of small and California homegrown businesses you can check out this Saturday.

Fashion & Accessories 

The recently revamped Lido Marina Village is one of the newest hotspots to shop for unique and high-end fashion finds in Newport Beach. The Village originally opened in 1971 as an outdoor shopping space with views of the bay. A brand-new slate of tenants opened shop after the area received a major renovation last year. Most retailers only have a handful of brick-and-mortar locations, like Faherty, with its rustic clothing made for exploring the outdoors in style and comfort, and Planet Blue, a pioneer of the beachy boho chic style that started in Malibu. You can also find accessories boutiques Broken English, which sells a mix of today’s trending jewelry designers, and Clare V., designer Clare Vivier’s namesake store selling functional totes, clutches, and sacs with clean lines.

If you need more to get your fashion fix, take a walk down the Corona del Mar stretch of PCH; you’ll find several upscale resale and consignment boutiques, including Recycled Rags, Young Seconds, and Bellissima Couture Consignment.

Surfing & Outdoors 

Whether you already love surfing or want to learn, it’s barrels of fun perusing the local surf shops. The Frog House, located on the northern edge of Newport Beach on PCH, is this town’s iconic surf shop. It is a Newport Beach institution with local TK Brimer running the tiny surf shack for the last forty years. All of the long-haired, sun-bleached surfers staffing the shop are super helpful. They have a great selection, especially given the small size of the store. Plus, they run pretty steep discounts on prior season inventory, which is great for someone like me that still wants a 4/3 wetsuit in the summer.

The Hobie Surf Shop in Corona del Mar carries a full range of men’s, women’s and children’s clothing and accessories along with their own brand of surfboards and SUP boards. This is one of five shops, with the original store opening in Dana Point in the 1950s. Local surfer Hobie Alter started his business by shaping balsa wood surfboards for his friends. Later, he and friend Gordon Clark were one of the first to start using polyurethane foam instead of balsa wood to make their innovative surfboards.

Food & Drink

Whether you are buying for you or a friend, visiting specialty food shop Baker & Olive for tastings of their gourmet olive oils, balsamic vinegars, artisan cheeses, charcuterie, and fine wines is a delicious shopping experience. Sample innovative flavors like espresso balsamic and olive oils infused with garlic or lemon. It is the perfect place to pick up a gift for your favorite host or hostess!

If you need a morning or mid-day boost during Saturday’s shopping spree, swing by Kéan Coffee, one of the best local coffee spots here in Newport Beach. Kéan Coffee was started by Martin Diedrich, whose family has been in the coffee business for several generations, starting with a coffee farm several generations ago in Guatemala. The beans are roasted on site, which means whether you get a cup at the cafe or buy beans to brew at home, you’ll enjoy an incredibly fresh cup of coffee.

Home & Design 

If you need anything for your home or garden, chances are you’ll find something perfect at Roger’s Gardens. The Shops at Roger’s Gardens are far more than your standard home and garden shop; it’s seven beautifully designed and landscaped acres, making it much deserving of the title, ‘America’s Most Beautiful Home and Garden Center’. Plus, it is extra festive during the holiday season with a quartet of carolers strolling the gardens!

If you are stopping at Lido Marina Village to peruse the racks at the new clothing retailers, don’t miss the home & design shops as well. Bixby & Ball offers a coastal classic design aesthetic and in-home styling and design services. Just around the corner on Newport Boulevard is Serena & Lily, with furniture, rugs, lighting and décor that will help you add pops of color and fun patterns to all your favorites spaces.

Children 

Toys Ahoy in the Westcliff shopping center carries this year’s “must-have” toys along with classics like hula hoops and silly string. The customer service in this store is unmatched; since Santa and Mrs. Claus will probably be exhausted by the time the kids turn in on Christmas Eve, take advantage of the free assembly and wrapping offered by Toys Ahoy. Then all you have to do is fill the stockings, place the presents by the tree, and enjoy the cookies and milk!

Donna Mantei and Susan Nielson, former teachers and current owners of Island Tales Bookshop on Balboa Island, carefully curate the shelves of this children’s bookstore with new titles from our favorite authors and classics you grew up reading. This quaint shop also sells stuffed animals and other little treasures. Afterwards, swing by Balboa Candy for saltwater taffy, or indulge in a frozen banana or Balboa Bar at Dad’s Donut & Bakery Shop or Sugar ‘N Spice.

For a more complete list of small businesses located in Newport Beach, check out this interactive map. Take Nov. 25 as an opportunity to discover your new favorite local business, inspiring you to join the movement and shop small all year long.

Written by Kelly Barcus.

Kelly is a travel writer and photographer. Over the past five years, she has lived in Los Angeles, Cambridge, England and Lisbon, Portugal. She now calls Newport Beach home along with her husband and young son. When she’s not enjoying the outdoors in Southern California, she’s traveling somewhere new and writing about it on her travel blog, No Man Before.