LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) – People across the country are flocking to local businesses for their holiday shopping. Here in Lincoln, the city has been celebrating Small Business Saturday for over a decade.

Earlier this week, Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird urged the community to show their support for the day by shopping at the locally-owned stores found around the city.

One of the best places to find deals in town was University Place, where a locally-owned shop is on nearly every corner.

That’s where you’ll find places like Copper and Wax Co., a candle store whose products are made by its owners in the back of the shop.

The two friends who started the shop during COVID are the ones who still run it, handling orders, customers, production and planning themselves, working to give customers a completely Nebraskan product.

“We source our beeswax from Nebraska,” said Mindy Horn, Copper and Wax Co. “So we really try to keep it as local as we can. We find joy is just being able to be creative and just kind of putting something out there that people will enjoy, so that has been great to watch.”

Copper and Wax Co. joined other small businesses in University Place on Saturday for a sort of small business Saturday celebration, offering special discounts and promotions.

Such as Archway Studios, a newly opened space that rents out studios to local artists. On Saturday, they opened their doors to sell the work of their artists to the community.

“To run a small business in Lincoln is always a challenge,” Lindsay Clausen, owner of Archway Studios, said ” But I would now want to run a small business anywhere else. You know that you’re supporting your neighbors, and you know that your money is going to stay in the community. You’re investing in making it a better place.”

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