Small Business Season Is Here. Meet the Town of Babylon's Business Class of 2026. |
From now through New Year's Eve, communities across the country make a point of choosing their local independents, with Small Business Saturday on Nov. 28 at the center. Here's where the tradition came from, why your dollar goes further at a local shop, and the four-week series we're starting today. |
SMALL BUSINESS SEASON · TOWN OF BABYLON
Every shop in the Town of Babylon started as somebody’s idea, somebody’s savings and somebody’s first nervous morning with the key in the door. This is the time of year when the whole country is asked to remember that, and starting today, we’re going to introduce you to the newest ones.
A day, and then a season
American Express created Small Business Saturday® in 2010 to bring shoppers into small businesses at the start of the holiday rush. It falls on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, which this year is Saturday, Nov. 28, 2026, and the U.S. Small Business Administration supports it as a cosponsor. About the day
It has grown into a big day. Last year, the 16th, shoppers reported spending an estimated $18 billion at small businesses on Small Business Saturday, according to a survey Amex commissioned the day after. Amex is careful to note that the number comes from what people said they spent, not from receipts. Its surveys put the total since tracking began at an estimated $241 billion. The 2025 results
Chambers of commerce have pushed to make it last longer than a day. Small Business Season™, a campaign from Frank Kenny’s Chamber Pros Community, asks chambers to keep local businesses in front of their communities for two full months, from Nov. 1 through Dec. 31. Restaurants, service companies and home-based businesses count, not just stores. About the campaign
Why the local dollar goes further
The reason is simple arithmetic. A locally owned business tends to hire people who live nearby, bank nearby, use a local accountant and printer, and sponsor the team down the street. More of the money comes back around.
Researchers call it the local multiplier. The American Independent Business Alliance reports that across Civic Economics’ retail studies, an average of 52.9 percent of each purchase at a local independent business was recirculated locally, compared with less than 13.6 percent at chain stores. The research A 2025 study done for American Express puts it another way: of every dollar spent at a U.S. small business, 68 cents stays in the local community.
How we’re marking it: the Business Class of 2026
This issue starts a four-part series, the Babylon Local Business Class of 2026, celebrating the businesses that opened in the Town this year. We’re going by quarter:
Nov. 4 (this issue): January through March openings, starting with the first profile in these pages.
Nov. 11: April through June.
Nov. 18: July through September.
Nov. 25: October through December, landing right before Small Business Saturday.
Locally owned independents get the full profiles. Chains and franchises that opened here are listed at the bottom of each installment. Every business we feature also gets a free listing in the Babylon Local directory.
Opened in 2026? Tell us. If you opened a business in the Town of Babylon this year, or you’ve noticed a new spot on your corner, email ryan@babylonlocal.com with the name, the hamlet and roughly when the doors opened.
The I Love Babylon and Babylon Local Facebook and Instagram pages will spotlight the Babylon Local Business Class of 2026 and other local businesses all season, and every issue of this magazine through December will carry a featured story about a local business.
For business owners: a Black Friday offer
Starting today and running through Cyber Monday, a Babylon Local ICON listing drops from $499 to $250 a year. The offer ends at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2026, after Cyber Monday. The first 100 businesses to claim it get the full bonus package; after the first 100, the $250 listing comes with the standard package. An ICON listing is our premium directory profile: photos, hours, links and your Google reviews and map on the page, plus room to post news, events, jobs and your team. It also includes a 30-second custom video, 30 days of social media posting, Google Business Profile optimization, an online visibility report, AI help responding to reviews and a standard AI chatbot. See the ICON listing
Whatever you buy this season, and wherever you buy it, look around first. The business you’re looking for may have opened on your block this year.
Small Business Saturday is a registered trademark of American Express. Small Business Season is a trademark of Frank Kenny.
Source: American Express, “Small Business Is Our Business,” Shop Small, read Nov. 3, 2026
Source: Chamber Pros Community, “Small Business Season,” read Nov. 3, 2026
Source: American Independent Business Alliance, “The Local Multiplier Effect”
Source: Babylon Local, “Become a Babylon Local Icon”
Stock photo, not a Town of Babylon business. Photo by Jesper on Pexels. |
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Babylon Local Business Class of 2026, Part 1: The Ones Who Opened in the Dead of Winter
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Friends Gather Here: What Tricia's American Cafe Has Meant to Babylon Village
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