It was Small Business Saturday last week in the U.S.A, and today (Saturday 6th December) is Small Business Saturday in the U.K.

The intention is to raise the profile of local independent stores, who are far more likely to have local suppliers, and benefit the local economy generally.

So a good chance to try out or two new ones today. Be brave and look in a new door.

Abingdon should soon be receiving a national award if the Vale of White Horse survey of local footfall is accurate.

It says that footfall in Abingdon is up a dramatic 44% from 2013 to 2014 (surveys were done during September and October). That is better than Wantage, who recently received an award for their improved town centre. Wantage footfall was up 30%. Faringdon was up 8%. So all Vale towns are doing well against the national average which saw a 0.6% decrease in High Street footfall over the same period.

The Vale report suggests that the dramatic 44% increase in Abingdon footfall could be explained by: the draw of local events and markets, high rates of retailer occupation, the town centre refurbishment, and free parking. Even though none of these factors changed between 2013 and 2014. So the dramatic increase is a mystery.

Read the Report here.

What began with Amazon offering online bargains in the UK, on the day after Thanksgiving, has now been imported into shops in Abingdon, UK,

Quite a few businesses had Black Friday bargains and sales on offer today.

There is also a new shop opened on Stert Street with a black sign. What was Badgers has been transformed into Dapper Street.

I loved pizzas long before I’d ever tried one thanks to the Mad Magazine’s depiction of what was just an American phenomena.

But pizza madness has come to Abingdon with two major chains facing each other across Ock Street.

Both currently have an offer of £7.99 for any size pizza if collected (* condition applies, this is October 2014).

Whereas Dominos would get people to dress up as dominos and wave at you from traffic roundabouts, Pizza Hut uses a mobile billboard to tell you about their offer.