Long Beach shops promote National Small Business Week

LONG BEACH, Miss. (WLOX) - It’s National Small Business Week and a new eatery in Long Beach is serving up cultural cuisines for customers.

The restaurant held a ribbon cutting to celebrate the opening.

There are more reasons to stop and shop on Jeff Davis Avenue.

Developers and vendors are choosing the Friendly City as a host for their business endeavors.

“Long Beach is really coming up. We’ve always been known as the quiet, sleepy, and friendly,” said William Rester.

Rester owns Raddish. With just one year of ownership under his belt, he’s planting more business opportunity just feet away with his new restaurant Kaiteki Noodle Bar.

“I know you can get ramen at some locations on the coast but I think we’re really the first place dedicated solely to that. There are some other things that are on the menu like buns and wings too that we’re really excited about. It’s kind of a different option and our chef is well-versed in Asian flavors and technique,” said Rester.

But it’s not all about the good eats, residents are choosing to shop local to keep more money in their town.

To help promote small businesses, the city is hosting Finally First Friday.

“There’s not much retail in the town but I’d love to see more because is just going to help everybody in the end,” said Janice Conoway.

Conoway is the owner of Mockingbird Lane. She said there will also be discounts for Mother’s Day.

“We’re going to have vendors on our sidewalks and front out of the stores. There will be sales promotion going on inside of the store. We’re going to have gift cards that consist of flowers from each business and restaurants,” said Conoway.

The biggest effect of shopping local is helping to keep the doors open for many.

“Everyone’s support helps us stay afloat to do these events and everything,” said Laura Johnson, owner of Sister Swank. “So, if we aren’t here we aren’t going to be to have them on our Main street. We’re such a small town. There’s Biloxi and Ocean Springs that are so big and they do events all the time. We’re trying to get to that level too.”

Finally First Friday is at the Harper McCaughan Town Green amphitheater from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

These events are free to the public. You can find more information at the city of Long Beach Facebook page.

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