More than 71,000 pizzerias around the country share their support for local communities in what has become known as Small Business Saturday. On November 30, small businesses everywhere anticipate increased consumer spending in local communities on the Saturday following Thanksgiving when many Americans use their time off to get some early holiday shopping done. According to the American Pizza Community (APC), whose membership consists of local pizza stores and operators of pizza franchises, the pizza industry is representative of small business.

“Thousands of pizza shops are owned by local families who give back to their communities through local sports and youth club sponsorships and charitable give-aways,” says Lynn Liddle, chair of the APC. “Our industry is proud of its deeply-connected ties to local communities and stands in support of its fellow businesses on Small Business Saturday.” 

Small Business Saturday began in 2010 when American Express encouraged consumers to “shop small” on the day after Black Friday. In the three years since, the White House, Small Business Administration, and hundreds of corporations and community groups have joined the effort, hoping to give local brick-and-mortar merchants a larger share of sales during the busiest shopping weekend of the year. American Express estimated consumers spent about $5.5 billion at local stores last year on Small Business Saturday, about one-tenth of the $59.1 billion the National Retail Federation says shoppers spent over the course of the weekend.

The APC says that pizza is often the go-to meal of choice for celebratory occasions and to mark special family traditions. In fact, Thanksgiving Eve is the second most popular day of the year for ordering pizza; the other days include Super Bowl Sunday, Halloween, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.