DES MOINES, Iowa — Small business Saturday is a day that local Des Moines businesses count down to.
"I've been hoarding stuff all year round getting ready, I'm like what's going to be the best seller, you never really know but you just do your best and we hoard the inventory," said Val Veiock, the owner of Bings.
"You know when January comes around, it's slow. February is slow, March is slow, right? It's just winter is slow. So, the more we make now can help us flourish in the coming months when they're really slow," said Cherry Picked owner Steph Jessen. "It's kind of like a piggy bank, right?"
As big box retailers are slowly taking over, the small businesses across the metro are feeling and seeing the impacts.
"So Black Friday was yesterday, [it] was very interesting. Everybody that came went to JC Penney's and bought a bunch of suitcases and stuff. But what I did find, they weren't stopping at the small businesses, so my hope today was if they were going to come in. But now I'm starting to question how many people are coming to the mall," Jessen said.
Valley West Mall is adding a number of local businesses as they work to make the mall solely small businesses — giving the owners inside a sense of hope.
"We need to work together to help support small business and have those people flourish too, so maybe one day they can have an actual brick and mortar too," Jessen said.
Despite the year round struggles small businesses can face, Small Business Saturday is always a positive outlook for businesses to keep going.
"It's our best Saturday of the year, usually, we have to restock the shelves several times, we've had a line even going today so lots of excited people to be out shopping locally," Veiock said.
The small business owners specifically said that Small Business Saturday is special because they are able to meet all of their neighbors and realize the true support they have around them.