It all comes at you so quickly: One minute, you’re making grocery lists and setting the menu for Thanksgiving, and then, in the blink of an eye, the holiday has arrived, only to be followed by Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, Giving Tuesday -- and then your tree goes up and Christmas morning is here.

This year’s shopping holiday is a special one for small businesses all over the Houston-area.

SUGAR LAND, Texas – This year, the COVID-19 pandemic did not stop people from supporting Small Business Saturday. The Painted Tree Marketplace, located on Southwest Freeway in Sugar Land, showcases almost 200 small business vendors. On Saturday, the business was booming at the Painted Tree Marketplace. Nicole Flores is the store manager at the Painted Tree Marketplace and she owns the Sassy Gal Boutique. The Painted Tree Marketplace is open from 10 a.m. -8 p.m. every day.

CYPRESS – Small business owners across the Houston area are preparing for Small Business Saturday. At establishments like the Little Eclectic House in Cypress, owners are preparing for customers the day after the big box stores had their turn on Black Friday. He refers to Small Business Saturday as “make-or-break” for a lot of establishments. “When you support a small business, you support your community,” said customer Fabian Vargas. “You’re really giving money back to where you’re from, where you’re living, where you’re at.”

HOUSTON – Clothing boutique owner Ebele Iloanaya isn’t just watching her sales on Black Friday, but the day after it as well. We are a small business, we don’t have the resources and we don’t have the capital to grow the business into a big business,” Iloanaya said. Community support on Small Business Saturday is important for Iloanaya’s 10-year business-in-the-making to keep its doors open. But she says she had the itch to bring her growing business back to her home in Sugar Land and right in the heart of the Sugar Land Town Square. Everything thing in Iloanaya’s boutique is designed by her and the majority of the designs are made in the U.S.