The shopping experience at large, chain retail stores during this time of year can be tiring at best. You walk the entire store, can’t find what you need, can’t get decent customer service and get frustrated with all of the other people doing the exact same thing.

One of the best antidotes to the consumerism of the holiday season is to eschew the chaos at the stores and spend extra time with your family. That can also mean going shopping at small businesses, which can be an experience all its own — in a good way.

Small Business Saturday has become a well-entrenched part of the holiday shopping season, right alongside Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Many small businesses saw good support last Saturday, including those at the {Re}Stored Pop-Up Shops event in downtown. But we’d like to encourage you not to let the support for small businesses stop with that one day.

Suffolk is privileged to have quite a number of excellent small businesses that can provide lots of gift ideas. We’re certain that you can find something for everyone on your list without resorting to a big-box store or risking a delivery box getting stolen off of your porch.

Many small businesses are able to provide the extra touch of talking directly with the owner, who can help you find a great gift if you tell them a little bit about your loved one.

If “things” aren’t your thing, and they’re not the thing of the person on your list, we’re sure some quality time and a local experience would make a great gift.

We’d like to challenge everyone to do at least some of their Christmas shopping at small businesses in Suffolk this year. What a difference it would make if everyone did so.