Obama shops local again on Small Business Saturday
He鈥檚 done it again! Indie bookstore surprise supporter President Obama visited a local bookstore on Small Business Saturday, the second time he鈥檚 touted the shopping local day (and bookstores) in as many years.
This year Obama took his daughters Sasha and Malia to One More Page Books in Arlington, Va., near Washington. The trio spent about 20 minutes in the store browsing through books and quietly conversing with other shoppers. Then Obama reportedly whipped out his BlackBerry smartphone, on which he made a shopping book list.
鈥淧reparation, you know,鈥� he told shop owner Eileen McGervey, according to news . 鈥淭hat鈥檚 how I shop.鈥�
Obama and his daughters bought 15 children鈥檚 books at One More Page Books to be gifted to family, according to the White House. It did not release a list of which books he purchased.
On Twitter the President later added, 鈥淢y family & I started out holiday shopping at a local bookstore on #SmallBizSat. I hope you鈥檒l join & shop small this holiday season. 鈥揵o鈥�
Launched in 2010, Small Business Saturday was started by American Express to redirect some of the holiday shopping frenzy to supporting small business nationwide. Last year some 100 million Americans supported small businesses on Small Business Saturday, according to American Express. This year, independent bookstores played a more prominent role with the launch of Thanks for Shopping Indie, the American Booksellers Association鈥檚 weeklong promotion bringing special discounts to popular titles at indie stores.
Last year, Obama and his daughters visited another local bookstore, Kramerbooks & Afterwards Caf茅 in Washington, where they purchased eight books, including novels, nonfiction, and children鈥檚 books. (Read more about that visit and which books Obama bought here.)
Saturday, we鈥檙e glad to report, was all about the books 鈥� no politics. When asked by a reporter whether his literary shopping spree was the President鈥檚 effort to keep the country from going over the looming fiscal cliff, Obama answered, 鈥淐ome on, we鈥檙e doing Christmas shopping. Happy Thanksgiving, folks.鈥�
Husna Haq is a Monitor correspondent.
