This is the eighth year for Small Business Saturday. American Express launched it to help mom and pop businesses get a bigger piece of holiday spending.
This year, shoppers are expected to spend nearly 50 percent more than they did last year on Christmas shopping.
According to American Express, small business owners generated an estimated $15.4 billion dollars on Small Business Saturday in 2016.
That same year 112 million people came out to shop on Small Business Saturday.
Bloomberg.com suggests that more people are ditching the malls to shop at small businesses close to home. Although big box stores are still responsible for majority of the holiday shoppers.
There are more than 2 million small businesses in operation across New York, which make up 99 percent of all the businesses, according to AMEX.
Nearly 50 of all employees in New York work for small businesses.
To find out which businesses are participating in Small Business Saturday go to www.americanexpress.com.
