The City of Fishers will conduct its annual Shop Fishers event beginning Nov. 26 and ending Dec. 31 for the holiday season.
Seventy local businesses will offer sales throughout the citywide event – some only on Small Business Saturday Nov. 26 and others until Dec. 31. Fishers’ Assistant Director of Community and Public Relations Stephanie Perry said the event is one of her favorite city initiatives.
“The city has held this event each year for nearly 10 years,” Perry said. “It originated as Small Business Saturday, which was one day only. We only had 20 to 30 businesses participate, all in downtown Fishers. But now it’s grown to be so much larger.”
The growth of the event was obvious in 2021 when Shop Fishers had a record number of more than 80 businesses participate in the initiative.
From the Allisonville Road corridor to the far east side of the city, all Fishers businesses – no matter the type – are welcome to participate.
“We have restaurants, boutiques and even gyms that participate in the celebration,” Perry said. “Some have actual locations in Fishers, but some business owners operate out of Fishers’ homes to run their online businesses. We include those, too.”
Angela Castelli, owner of Roman and Leo at 8800 North St., Suite 115, the only all-boys boutique in the Midwest, said shopping small is an ideal way to financially support the community.
“We have employees who live in our community that work in our stores, and it’s just keeping that within our local economy,” Castelli said.
Perry said Shop Fishers helps bring the community together during the season of giving.
“It’s a great way to rally behind our neighbors for the holiday season,” she said. “And we wanted to ensure our residents were celebrating businesses throughout the season, so that’s why it ends on Dec. 31.”
As part of the larger Shop Fishers event, the city will also conduct Giving Tuesday Nov. 29. The event pairs businesses and local nonprofits to foster mutually beneficial partnerships. Each nonprofit is vetted by the city and must show proof of supporting Fishers in some way.
“We pair businesses with nonprofits that have a similar mission,” Perry said. “Some of the businesses include special sales like ‘10 percent of proceeds go to the nonprofit,’ while others host the nonprofit in their store for the day. It’s a fun way to dine or shop local while giving back to a nonprofit.”
Giving Tuesday was launched in 2021.
“We have a lot of local connections (to businesses), and we regularly meet with nonprofit partners, so when we were brainstorming how best to help (local nonprofits), we wanted to bring in community partners,” Perry said.
The city also has a summer edition, the Shop Fishers Summer Series, which is held in mid-July.
“This event is only one week long, but it’s great for supporting local businesses for back-to-school essentials,” Perry said.
For more about Shop Fishers events, visit ThisIsFishers.com/ShopFishers.
