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SALT LAKE CITY — Teacher Rebecca Sue juggled her 10-month-old son, David, as a crowd of reporters following Salt Lake Mayor Jackie Biskupski on Small Business Saturday crowded into the children's section of The King's English Bookshop.
Sue said she'd been shopping for children's books as Christmas presents, including some for David, who seemed more interested in putting the titles in his mouth than in what was on the pages.
"He loves books. He would like to eat them," she said, as Biskupski and one of her sons, Archie, 6, and his friend, Alec Zanios, 7, examined the selection at the store, a cornerstone of the 15th and 15th neighborhood.
Sue said was making her first visit there to show her support for small businesses.
"I just figure there's more money that goes back to our local community," the part-time science teacher at Lincoln Elementary School said, nodding toward a stack of books she'd already picked out.
Moments later, the mayor repeated that message for the TV cameras.
"Every year, my kids and I, we go shopping for books. So we wanted to come here and make sure we get all of their little friends books this year from this store," Biskupski said.
She urged residents to buy gifts at local merchants for at least a few of the names on their Christmas lists to help generate tax revenues that fund schools, roads and other needs.
"It's very important to support local businesses because that money stays in our local economy," the mayor said. "The way we generate revenue in this city is to have people buy locally."
Archie and Alec picked out books as gifts for each other and paid for their purchases themselves, quietly prodded by Biskupski to tell the clerk, "Thank you," before buying more books herself.
Betsy Burton, co-owner and co-founder of the 39-year-old bookstore, also heads Local First Utah, a group she helped put together more than a decade ago to encourage residents to shop independent businesses in their communities.
"The message is really resonating," Burton said. She said the store's loyal customers make a point of shopping on Small Business Saturday, created by American Express seven years ago and promoted through its "Shop Small" campaign.
"This tends to be the second biggest day after (the Saturday before) Christmas for us, which is huge," Burton said. Customers come "because they love us, yes, but because they love independent businesses and they love the idea of what that does for their community."
Biskupski also brought the boys to Tony Caputo's Market and Deli across the street from the bookstore, where they tasted cheeses before choosing some treats to take home.
Matt Caputo, son of the local chain's founder and now CEO, was eating lunch with his wife and two young daughters when the mayor arrived. He said he appreciated the attention she brought to a business that competes with supermarkets.
"If people like the mayor weren't willing to go out of their way to find something, that special item that maybe the mass food industry is leaving out, we wouldn't be able to be here," Caputo said.
For his businesses, the busiest times are before the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, not Black Friday or Small Business Saturday, when people are cooking and entertaining at home.
"The Saturday after Thanksgiving is traditionally one of our slowest," he said as his family ate deli sandwiches. "So we definitely get a boost on days like today, when the mayor comes here."
