small businesses

While shoppers hit major retailers for Black Friday, the day after is Small Business Saturday, a time when people are encouraged to support their local economy. NBC 5’s LeeAnn Trotter shares the stories of some entrepreneurs looking forward to the big day.

College student Emmy Rener built a small business selling charcuterie boards during the pandemic and has some advice for other young entrepreneurs.

Americans love their four-legged friends, but their 163 million dogs and cats certainly leave a giant paw-print on the environment — especially when it comes to pet poop. For small businesses who work with pets, it can be a challenge to find ways to curb their own climate impact while catering to their furry clientele.

Maybe you’ve run into this problem over the years: you want to catch some of the biggest female sports stars compete – only there’s nowhere to actually watch these games. That was the issue Portland native Jenny Nguyen, a sports fan and former basketball player, kept running into, so she decided to create a solution: the Sports Bra. The Sports Bra...

Jenny Nguyen got frustrated back in 2018 when she was trying to watch the NCAA women’s basketball final, and none of the TVs at a local sports bar were showing the big game. Out of that frustration, Nguyen conceived the idea for The Sports Bra, her Portland hangout where women’s sports are always on and the best athletes in women’s...

The term “sober-curious” isn’t new, but over the past few years more Millennials and members of Gen Z are embracing the movement and opting out of the booze on big nights out – and not for the reasons you might think. “I haven’t been drinking for a number of years for no particular reason – like there’s no medical...

Hatch Show Print is a 142-year-old letterpress print shop that is still using a 500-year-old process to make its handmade gig, concert and event posters. Dolly Parton, Elvis Presley, Bruce Springsteen and Ozzy Osbourne are just a few of the entertainers whose concert posters have been handcrafted by Hatch Show Print over the years. NBCLX contributor Greg Bledsoe took his...

Sharply higher costs are yet another challenge thrown at business owners by the global pandemic.

Many Chicagoans did some Christmas shopping this Small Business Saturday, while supporting their local economies at the same time. NBC 5’s Lexi Sutter reports.

Sail Freight shipping company in New York delivers goods by sailboat without using fossil fuels to combat climate change.

A New York company is proving there is a green way to move products from one part of the state to another. The business, called Sail Freight, carries products from New York’s Hudson Valley to consumers in New York City, and vice versa, by sailboat and bicycle — and hope to make their model a growing trend.

Chicago’s Boxville started with just one shipping container in the city’s Bronzeville neighborhood that housed a single small business. Today, it has grown into a thriving marketplace that helps entrepreneurs by providing a less expensive way to start a small business. And, in doing so, it’s revitalizing the entire community.

On the South Side of Chicago, a floral business called Southside Blooms is helping at-risk kids to do just that – while beautifying the neighborhood at the same time. NBCLX storyteller Ngozi Ekeledo visited Chicago to find out how this flower business is putting down strong roots in its community.

Weddings and other events are resuming across the Chicago area and boosting the bottom lines for businesses that cater and create memories for couples and event attendees.

The work-from-home strategy adopted by many companies and employees during the pandemic will soon be shifting as employees return to fill office buildings. NBC 5 Investigates’ Chris Coffey has the story.

The work-from-home strategy adopted by many companies and employees during the pandemic will soon be shifting as employees return to fill the office buildings of downtown Chicago, according to people who run the towering structures that make up the city’s iconic skyline.

Hair. It comes in all textures, colors, lengths, types and densities. But for Black women, the topic of hair can be complex — especially when it comes to caring for your natural locs. Enter Kazmaleje, a Miami-based business focused on creating hair tools and products for curly and kinky hair types. The business was launched by three sisters with a…

For Miami-based Kazmaleje, a business focused on creating hair tools for textured hair, the COVID-19 pandemic hit at an especially inopportune time. Owner LaToya Stirrup was committed to pushing through the challenges, however, and found ways to grow the business during the pandemic, thanks to the greater mission behind the business.

“We’re all figuring out what next week is going to look like day to day.” How can a party-based business pull through a pandemic? That is the question certified balloon artist Ava Sealey, who owns Ava Party Designs in Bethel, has been facing since March. Many small businesses are struggling during the pandemic, but Sealey believes in her business’s...

The coronavirus pandemic is tamping down the joy — and the revenue — associated with the Carnival season in New Orleans