SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) – Small businesses in downtown Savannah say the need for support is greater than ever before.

According to CNBC, over 196 million people packed the stores over the Black Friday weekend hoping to find the perfect gift to put under the tree.

Tonya Rentie, co-owner of Locally Made Savannah, says sales were great the holiday weekend.

Rentie said, “The sales were really good on Black Friday and Saturday.”

But once the holiday came to an end, sales started to decline, she added.

“It sorta petered out on Sunday,” Rentie said. “It was not a good day for us.”

Rentie said being a small business owner right now is a difficult task she hopes will get better.

“So right now, we’re facing the challenges, like everyone else, not being able to find employees,” Rentie said. “People are currently buying more online and not coming out to stores. Especially downtown, the locals don’t want to deal with the parking issues that we have, having to pay for parking.”

Locally Made Savannah is a shop full of handmade items from over 200 businesses from Savannah to the Lowcountry. With inflation and high costs, Rentie has had to raise her prices.

“So, we represent over 200 artisans right now, and everything I’m hearing from them is they’re having to raise their prices because they can’t get supplies or their supplies have doubled they need to make their products,” Rentie said.

She added that although there have been many setbacks, she hopes the locals and tourists will support her efforts to keep the community thriving.  

“So any small business, if you don’t have the money to shop all the time small business, sharing a post, telling your friends to shop down there, it’s just as easy as doing a share on Facebook say ‘Hey guys, they’re having sale. We gotta go out and support them.'”

Locally Made Savannah is located at 220 West Broughton Street in historic downtown.