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mom and pop

It began quietly, as an email to 40 friends. But when a steady stream of customers began coming through the door before the family-owned Chagrin Hardware had even opened for the day on Saturday, it was clear that it had turned into much more than that. Hundreds of supporters of the family-owned business flocked to the store all day long, spending money in a veritable "Cash Mob."
On Dec. 10, Amazon offered a special deal to shoppers who used its smartphone app in brick-and-mortar stores: Scan certain items, and the Web retailer would give them an extra 5% off. Critics cried foul. In one tactless move, has Amazon cast itself as the new mom-and-pop business killer?
Occupy protesters want shoppers to occupy something besides door-buster sales and crowded mall parking lots on Black Friday. Some don't want people to shop at all. Others just want to divert shoppers from big chains and giant shopping malls to local mom-and-pops. And while the actions don't appear coordinated, they have similar themes: supporting small businesses while criticizing the day's dedication to conspicuous consumption and the shopping frenzy that fuels big corporations.
You may already be familiar with many of the independent retailers in your home town, but how do you find mom-and-pop shops when you're traveling? The 3/50 Project's new iPhone app might help. It links users to its directory of small businesses, so visitors can support the local economy.
Seasoned Black Friday shoppers know that the best way to save during this all-important shopping day is to plot out a course of action ahead of time. That means knowing what you want and where to get it -- at the lowest possible price, of course. Such planning entails scouring the Black Friday...

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