As Small Business Saturday comes to a close, local businesses continue to encourage El Pasoans to shop local

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- Small Business Saturday is the holiday that follows Black Friday, and encourages people everywhere to shop local for the holidays. ABC-7 spoke with several business owners about the importance of supporting locally-owned shops right here in the Borderland.

"It's good to shop local, so that we can keep money in the city," said Andrew Candelaria, the administrative director for Chuco Relic. "Of course, it also supports artists in the community. Our store is focused on El Paso artists and the items they create."

While Chuco Relic promotes art made locally by several people, everything sold at Trendy Decor in West El Paso is created by one woman.

"I started reusing stuff... I was decorating, restoring, recycling. So, my sister one day was like, 'Why don't you start selling your stuff?' I said, 'Who would want to get this?'" said Monica Vela, the store's owner.

But nine years later, Vela has had tremendous success in selling her hand-made items. The staff at Chuco Relic has been participating in Small Business Saturday nearly as long as Vela, and both businesses say they have seen an increase in the amount of people that shop local over the last decade.

Although this year's Small Business Saturday is almost over, you still have plenty of opportunity to shop local this holiday season. Stores all over the Borderland like Chuco Relic and Trendy Decor are offering deals all season long.

Chuco Relic has multiple locations, located at 4935 N Mesa St, 3750 Gateway Blvd East, and 1883 N Zaragoza Rd. Trendy Decor is located right next to Chuco Relic's westside location on N Mesa.