People avoiding crowds at Small Business Saturday in Salinas

Avoiding the craziness of Black Friday, a calmer crowd was in Downtown Salinas for Small Business Saturday.

Some check off everything on their holiday shopping list on Main Street. “I do all my Christmas shopping, I have for the last five years, right on shop small Saturday and downtown,” said Salinas resident, David Scotton.

While Small Business Saturday pays tribute to the local “mom and pop” shops, people I spoke with say there’s another reason they’re here. “They have the security. Everyone’s very welcoming. It’s clean, it’s fun, it’s festive,” said Salinas resident, Jenna Abramson.

Across the country, massive, sometimes, violent crowds invade larger shopping centers. While it doesn’t seem like things got too out of hand locally, people were still intimidated by the possibility. “I drove by Northridge Mall yesterday and there wasn’t a place to park. I wasn’t gonna go in, but I could just see there were just cars lined up to try to find parking places and I parked right on Main Street here,” said Scotton.

You cane brave the big crowds for the door busters, or wait a day, where small businesses owners hope their personal touch can win shoppers over. “Some people like to be more of a bargain shopper, but there’s a whole experience of being downtown and being known by your store owner and that’s what we give,” said owner of Gifts on the Go, Donna Bruhn.