Stafford's Small Business Saturday Is Back for Round Two, and the Prize Pool Is Smaller Than You'd Think
October 22, 2026
October 22, 2026
On Small Business Saturday last year, the county's first Shop Small Stafford campaign counted 320 shoppers checking in at local stores across the whole county, all in a drawing for $2,000 in gift card prizes.
The campaign returns on Saturday, Nov. 28, 2026, with the same $2,000 in total prizes and a rule of one prize entry per participating shop. A pop-up market at a commuter lot on Staffordboro Boulevard brings home-based and storefront businesses together in one place. Since last year's turnout is a matter of public record, the stakes for each stop are easy to see. A route that takes in more shops gives you a real share of a small drawing.
The Stafford County Economic Development Department ran the first campaign on Nov. 29, 2025. Potomac Local reported the results in January.
| Shop Small Stafford, Nov. 29, 2025 | Result |
|---|---|
| Participating businesses | 50 |
| Shoppers who checked in | 320 |
| Estimated transactions | 319 |
| Gross receipts | Nearly $35,000 |
| Estimated to stay in the local economy | About $23,775 |
| Prize pool funded by the EDA | $2,000 across three gift cards |
A few things follow from those numbers. Nearly $35,000 over 319 transactions comes to roughly $110 per purchase. County officials estimated that about two-thirds of the receipts stayed local. And with 320 participants for 50 businesses, the average shop saw only a handful of passport check-ins all day.
The drawing went out live on Facebook on Dec. 2, and Potomac Local named A-Z Meats and The Drip Bar of Stafford among the top winners. Many other local businesses donated extra prizes of their own.
This year's program is again sponsored by the Stafford EDA and runs under the county's status as an American Express Neighborhood Champion. The Shop Small Stafford page lays out the process in four steps:
The timing matters. You can sign up now and browse the participating businesses and their Small Business Saturday deals ahead of time. Check-ins and entries only count on Nov. 28. Since the list of participants lives inside the pass itself, signing up early is the only way to plan a route before the day.
The prizes are one $1,000 gift certificate and two $500 gift certificates. Each winner chooses one participating business, and the full amount is issued for that business. The drawing is random across all eligible entries. Each person can win only one prize, so a winner is removed from the remaining draws. Winners are contacted using the details they gave at sign-up. Owners and employees of participating businesses can't win, and neither can employees of the county's Economic Development and Tourism Department or their household members.
Each participating shop you check in at adds one entry, so a household that visits six participating shops holds six entries in a pool that drew 320 shoppers in its first year. Concentrating those stops in one place makes it easier, which is the job of the market on Staffordboro Boulevard.
The Shop Small Market runs Saturday, Nov. 28, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the 610 Slug Lot on Staffordboro Boulevard. It's hosted by the Long Family Markets Foundation, which describes it as a way for local small and microbusinesses to sell directly to the community. That includes makers, artisans, food businesses and service providers.
It's a different event from the regular farmers market. Long Family Markets keeps its farmers markets focused on agriculture and local food, and it built the Shop Small Market to give space to a wider range of entrepreneurs. According to the county, the market gives home-based and online Stafford businesses a place to sell in person. Some participants with storefronts will set up there too, and their Shop Small Stafford QR codes can be scanned at the booths. The county's campaign page lists a $20 booth fee for vendors.
That's why the slug lot works as a starting point. A business that only sells online has no storefront to visit, so the market is the one place on Nov. 28 where a passport holder can check in with it. Several check-ins in one morning there also puts a shopper well ahead of the average participant from last year.
The setting has a track record. Long Family Markets held a Christmas market on Staffordboro Boulevard last year, and Potomac Local's coverage named Mamaw Sweet Treats, Cider Lab, FXBG E-Bike Tours, The Book Bar and Nikita's Jewelry Box among the 2025 vendors. That's last year's lineup. Long Family Markets says this year's participant listings will be posted closer to the event.
Getting there on foot is a little easier this fall. On Aug. 31, Stafford County held a ribbon-cutting for a new 1,200-foot sidewalk on Staffordboro Boulevard. It connects the Juggins Road Connector and Pike Place, with crosswalks, and the ceremony took place at the Park and Ride entrance near Route 610.
Small Business Saturday is the second of two back-to-back holiday Saturdays. The first is the Stafford County Holiday Market and Tree Lighting on Saturday, Nov. 21, from 4 to 8 p.m. at the George L. Gordon Jr. Government Center. Planned features include decorated vendor booths with gifts, food trucks with seasonal food, bounce houses and other children's activities, then the tree lighting itself. Gift and specialty vendors apply through one application, and food trucks apply separately.
The two events do different jobs. The tree lighting is an evening of food trucks and lights at the county seat. The following Saturday is a daytime shopping route with a drawing attached. Anyone who finds a vendor they like on Nov. 21 has a week to check whether that business is also in the Shop Small pass.
The next afternoon, Sunday, Nov. 22, from 2 to 3:30 p.m., Gari Melchers Home & Studio in Falmouth is screening The Artist's Garden. The 87-minute documentary follows the American impressionist movement and its ties to gardens. Admission is free with registration.
After Thanksgiving weekend, the calendar spreads out, and each date has a different character.
The Stafford Christmas Parade is the one fixture without a 2026 date yet. Last year Stafford Fair ran it at Pratt Park on Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025, with a "Christmas Vacation" theme and 55 entries. Proceeds went to the Stafford County Sheriff's Office Holiday Toy Drive, according to Potomac Local. Until organizers announce this year's date, treat that weekend as likely but unconfirmed.
Of all these dates, Nov. 28 is the one where your own route makes a measurable difference. Sign up for the pass, look through the participants, and start at the slug lot at 10 a.m. That gets you several entries before noon in a drawing that had only a few hundred participants in its first year.
Small Business Saturday tells you a lot about where Stafford spends its money and which local businesses people go back to. If you're thinking about what your own home is worth in a county with this kind of local economy, Cheantae Lewis can walk you through it with data from your street. Get your free home valuation.
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