National Mom and Pop Business Owners Day Date in the current year: March 29, 2024

Historically, mom-and-pop stores were local family-owned and operated drugstores or general stores. They were once a neighborhood fixture, especially in immigrant neighborhoods because such businesses did not require much start-up capital, and everyone in the family helped out, reducing or even eliminating the need for hired labor.

Today, the term “mom-and-pop” has become almost synonymous with small business. It is used to describe various types of family- or independently owned businesses, including grocery stores, bookstores, automotive repair shops, car washes, laundry and dry cleaning services, restaurants, and even insurance agencies. Unlike larger chain businesses, most mom-and-pop businesses have a vested interest in their local community and provide more personalized products and services, which is what makes them so valuable.

In many ways, it is hard for small businesses to compete with big-box stores, e-commerce platforms, and franchises. However, their importance and economic impact should not be underestimated. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, small businesses accounted for 99.9% of the businesses in the country as of 2021. They employed almost 47% of all American employees, and 70% of all new jobs came from small businesses.

Mom-and-pop businesses definitely deserve our support because they provide a more personalized shopping experience, create jobs, and boost local economic growth. Since they don’t have the marketing capabilities of large companies and franchises, various initiatives have emerged to help mom-and-pop businesses expand their target audience, broaden their reach, and promote their products and services. National Mom and Pop Business Owners Day, celebrated annually on March 29, is one of such initiatives.

National Mom and Pop Business Owners Day was founded by Rick and Margie Segel to honor their parents whose small hat shop that they opened in 1939 has since grown into a large and successful clothing store. The holiday is a great opportunity to support small businesses in your community, especially those that are family-, women- or POC-owned, by shopping there, buying gift cards for your friends, giving your favorite businesses a shout-out on social media, and discovering new small businesses in your neighborhood.

National Mom and Pop Business Owners Day is not the only initiative that aims to support small businesses. For example, Small Business Saturday is observed on the Saturday after Thanksgiving in the US and on the first Saturday of December in the UK. Its main goal is to promote small businesses during the busiest shopping season. And the United Nations established Micro-, Small and Medium-size Enterprises Day to highlight the importance of small and medium-sized businesses for sustainable development.