It’s just one day but it could have a big impact on your neighborhood.

Small Business Saturday took place on Nov. 29. Residents got an opportunity to do holiday shopping away from the busy malls at family-owned businesses.

“Being that we’ve been in business for in this town for 30 years and I still meet people who live in the neighborhood that have never been here before come in within the past year, the past week, the past few months, I hope it brings more of those people in,” said Mikey Cortes, a long-time employee at Park Ave CDs.

However, a lot of people have never heard of small businesses like Park Ave CDs, which is a ‘mom and pop’ vinyl record store in the Audubon Park Garden District in Orlando.

Organizers behind Small Business Saturday said it’s a great opportunity to support independent and unique businesses that you won’t find anywhere else but in your neighborhoods.

“Especially a lot of the shops that are around here in this plaza. They’re all mom and pop. They’re a part of this neighborhood. This is a very big neighborhood, a lot of people of all ages,” Cortes explained.

“I live 400 yards away," Cortes added. "I can ride my bike here and go get ice cream, go to Blue Bird [Bake Shop] get a cupcake, get a coffee, go to Stardust. There’s a whole community here but I also want people who are not familiar with this area to come down. That’s what I hope that Small Business Saturday promotes. It’s not just Audubon Park, I want people from Winter Park, College Park, Kissimmee.”

Small Business Saturday was promoted across Orlando in downtown and the city’s eight main street districts, touting independent, family-owned retailers as the backbone of our local economy.

“We’re not going to snub our nose at anybody looking for anything. We’re here to provide a service, do it as best as we can and be friendly and be part of the neighborhood and that comes with just welcoming everybody,” Cortes said.

College Park

Malls have Black Friday. Online retailers have Cyber Monday. But for small business owners it's all about Small Business Saturday.

Jim and Silvia Lakey own the store Galley on the Edge. They were so busy this Small Business Saturday, they barely had time to talk to News 13. And that’s a good thing.

“This is big time for us. It is one of our better weekends that we have. Last year we had over 200 people come to the door and this year we expect even more,” said Silvia Lakey.

This is big time for Debbie Sheehan too. Her small salon has been in College Park for more than a decade, and she’s not shy about selling the benefits of mom-and-pop shops, especially on Small Business Saturday.

“Black Friday is huge for chains and corporations. Not everyone likes to be in that craziness you know. Thanksgiving is all about appreciating each other and then the day after it’s all about trying to kill each other to try and get a ten dollar sale,” said Sheehan.

Shoppers said they like being able to buy unique items. Store owners like Silvia Lakey fill that demand. She and her husband make some of the household Art and jewelry they sell. The rest comes from about fifty local artists.

“It’s so much better to come and buy something that is totally unique and one of a kind, instead of the mall where everything is so repetitive,” said Lakey.

It’s not just about being able to buy unique items. Shop owners in College Park said it’s also about being able to say you’re supporting small businesses.

Susan Sorrow, for example, has been shopping in College Park for years and says she will continue to support the movement to support local small businesses.

“Small businesses are the backbone of our country first of all. These people who work it out here, they work individually and they work hard. And I like to support people who work hard,” said Sorrow.

Besides the benefits of supporting local small businesses and finding unique items, there's another advantage: nostalgia is priceless. One shopper, Regina Klaers, bought a small and colorful Christmas tree made of wire and wood that reminded her of when her daughter was a child.

“My daughter had this toy growing up that had the balls on it, so it definitely speaks to my kid’s childhood. So it’ll bring happy memories when I look at it,” said Klaers.