By DEWAYNE GOFORTH
@DEWAYNE.GOFORTH
Nicole Panettieri, owner of The Brass
Owl Boutique on Ditmars Boulevard,
spearheads a group of local, independently
22 NOVEMBER 2 0 1 7
owned shops in a group called
Shop Small Astoria. She was inspired to
create a retail crawl after her first year of
business, when she had a great turnout
on Small Business Saturday.
“I was overwhelmed with the love and support
from the neighborhood,” she said.
Since the first Shop Small Astoria Retail
Crawl on Small Business Saturday in
2015, which was a one-day event with 11
participating shops, the event has grown.
There are now 16 shops, and this year, the
retail crawl will be all weekend long, from
Friday, Nov. 24, till Sunday, Nov. 26.
“It's exciting to see the indie retail world
of Astoria grow, so naturally we have
grown as new stores have come on to the
scene,” she explained.
Customers who want to join in on the
fun should pick up a passport at one of
the 16 participating businesses so they
can record their purchases. Those who
shop at any four of the stores on the crawl
will be given a goodie bag: a custom
Shop Small Astoria tote with gifts from
each store.
Dedicated shoppers will be rewarded
for patronizing even more businesses:
customers who shop at eight or more of
the stores will be entered in for a grand
prize of gift cards from all stores, valued
at $450.
For Panettieri, creating Shop Small Astoria
was a way to invest in her community,
and she said that shoppers will be
directly helping their neighborhood.
SHOP
LOCAL
Black Friday has long
been a staple in the
holiday shopping season,
but as the public’s
interest in supporting
small, indie retailers
grew in recent years,
Small Business Saturday
emerged as an incentive
to support local shops.
Thanks to some western
Queens business owners,
the Shop Small Astoria
Retail Crawl has become
the signature event for
Astorians looking to not
only save at the register,
but also give back
to their local community
on this national shopping
holiday.
EXPLORE YOUR BORO
@lovedayqueen
